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PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY, 



RATIONAL GRAMMAR 



By JAMES GILCHRIST. 



All hitherto accomplished is insufficient to prevent the seducing incantation 
of names in numerous respects, their doing violence to the understanding-, and 
recoiling 1 upon it from whence they proceeded : this evil requires a new and a 

DEEPFR REMEDY. BaCOH, 




LONDON : 

Printed by George Smallfield, Hackney ; 

FOR ROWLAND HUNTER, (SUCCESSOR TO J. JOHNSON,) 
ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD. 

1810. 



C«fuj 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



IN presenting the following work to the pub- 
lic, the author has but one wish to express — 
that the subject of his book may meet with the 
attention which its importance merits, and that 
the book itself may be rigorously examined — 
well and truly tried. 

He has no professions of modesty and diffi- 
dence to lavish on better judgments — no apolo- 
gies to make to candid readers — or favours to 
solicit of indulgent critics. He thinks he has 
made some important discoveries ; but perhaps 
they will prove in the end like many other sup- 
posed discoveries — only ingenious fancies. Be- 
lieving that his opinions and reasonings rest on 
fixed and certain principles, he has proceeded 
in a firm and fearless manner: but a clearer 



VI ADVERTISEMENT. 

and profounder philologer may be able to over- 
turn all his doctrines. 

This, however, he can sincerely assure the 
public, that if his work shall in the smallest 
degree serve as scaffolding to raise a solid sys- 
tem of Philosophic Etymology or Rational 
Grammar, he will not regret, but rejoice to see 
it thrown down to make room for works of 
higher reach and more utility. 



Newington Green, London, Jane 26, 1816. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction. , «..«•«,.... i 

PART I. 

The Nature and Origin of Alphabetic Signs 23 

The Connexion between Alphabetic Signs and Intelli- 
gible Sounds considered , 30 

PART II. 

THE CANON OF ETYMOLOGY 35 

PART III. 

The Component Parts of Speech unfolded 87 

Connectives 89 

The Verbal Terminations merely connective 99 

The Substantive Verb merely connective 102 

The Terminations of Nouns ending in eth, en, on, &c. 

merely connective B 104 

Augmentives 116 

Negatives or Disjunctives 127 

Diminutives f 136 

PART IV. 

THE COMMON SYSTEM OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR CON- 
SIDERED ..,...». 139 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

The Syntax of Pronouns considered 143 

The Verb considered 150 

The Qualities of good Composition considered 205 

The Popular and Fashionable Doctrines on the Sub- 
ject to be disregarded 220 

A Rythmus or Tune of Composition incompatible 

with good Style \ 233 

The Study of Language a necessary Preparative to 

good Composition 235 

One Rule of Composition necessary and that one Rule 
sufficient 248 

PART V. 

A STANDARD OF ORTHOGRAPHY ESTABLISHED 253 



INTRODUCTION. 



When the author of the following work began to 
study philology, it was with a logical rather than 
grammatical view. He had found his learning, such 
as it was, an inconvenience and intellectual cum- 
brance : nor was it merely foreign speech that he 
found as a vail of obscurity or net of entanglement 
upon his understanding ; even the English language 
was to him as SauTs armour to David — cumbersome 
because it had not been proved. He had wandered 
ten years (for he became a student somewhat late in 
life) in the wilderness of words ; often looking wist- 
fully up the hill of knowledge, but as often despair- 
ing of climbing to the summit. Frequently indeed 
he returned to his fruitless efforts with a kind of 
desperate courage ; but as frequently did he retire 
from the hopeless contest, under a mortifying sense 
of disappointment and useless effort. 

The truth is, he at last sunk into despair of ever 
knowing even the English language to his own satis- 
faction ; or so as to be able to experiment with it 
accurately as an instrument of science; and it had 
actually become one of his fixed opinions, that man 

B 



II INTRODUCTION. 

is fated to be the dupe of his own inventions ; that 
language of which he so much boasts is the greatest 
of all impostors ; and that no remedy could be found 
for verbal, that is metaphysical .deception and mis- 
chief. Thus for a considerable time he heartily 
despised not only the systems of learning that owe 
their origin to language, but language itself, as a 
mere Babel-jargon intended or calculated to be a 
curse rather than a blessing — the parent of error, 
metaphysical nonsense, false-reasoning, endless con- 
troversy, contention and animosity. 

With this opinion and contempt of language, it is 
probable that the author would have been content to 
pity and deride the learning that prevails, without 
endeavouring to rectify it, had not an incident which 
it is unnecessary to name, roused him into a resolu- 
tion of attempting to rid the world of intellectual 
bondage and metaphysical imposture. He had 
always (he means from the time he became a 
student) a kind of intuitive perception and convic- 
tion that all the systems of grammar, rhetoric, logic, 
&c. which prevail, are wrong; but believing the 
origin of all learned absurdities to be language itself, 
he perceived not, how the evil could be remedied ; 
and supposed that learned men must go on as they 
had done, boasting of their technical nonsense. He 
at last, however, perceived, he thought, how the laby- 
rinth might be demolished, and the Babel-systems 
confounded into silence. As the radical evil was 
perceived to be in language, it was evident that there 



INTRODUCTION. Ill 

the remedy must be applied. He resolved therefore 
to create another kind of grammar and lexicography 
than had hitherto prevailed ; in attempting which, 
the principles he laid down were as follow : — 

1 . That language was a human invention. 2. That 
it w T as a simple invention. 3. That the true nature 
of true philology must lie on the very surface of 
obviousness. 4. That all the dialects must be essen- 
tially but one language. 5. That the whole wilder- 
ness oi words must have arisen from a few expressive 
signs originally connected with sensible objects. 
6. That therefore the whole multitude of parts and 
varieties in language, or that all words must be re- 
solvable into a few simple elements, indicating by 
resemblance visible objects. 7. That there could be 
nothing arbitrary about language. 8. That no words 
could be primarily or properly insignificant. 

These principles were drawn from his own reflec- 
tions, and to serve in the mean time as guides till 
enquiry had disproved or superseded them. The 
author was, if not sagacious, at least fortunate in his 
conjectures (and he considered them at first only 
conjectures), for after three years' habitual reflection 
and toilsome enquiry, there is not one of thern which 
he has been obliged to abandon, as unsound or un- 
important — as contradicted or unverified by experi- 
mental evidence. 

Much progress was soon made in diminishing the 
mass of words and simplifying the nature of speech ; 
which became progressively more intelligible and 

b 2 



IV INTRODUCTION. 

manageable ; though no other principles of philology 
were yet obtained from investigation, in addition to 
those which the author had drawn from his own 
reflections. He had proceeded some way in identi- 
fying even abstract terms, as they are called, with 
the names of sensible objects, and classifying their 
numerously-varied forms under their primitives, 
when accident threw in his way the writings of Mr. 
Home Tooke and Mr. Whiter.* As for Etymolo- 
gicon Magnum, the author could never prevail with 
himself to read it till he actually began to write the 
present work ; yet he believes, that though he only 
glanced over it for a short time in a bookseller's shop, 
he must have derived some benefit from it. The 
work of Mr. Home Tooke he read and studied with 
much care, yet knows not how to estimate its in- 
struction. He was confirmed by the reasonings of 
that author in the truth and soundness of his own 
principles and discoveries ; and received from him 
some useful hints, and many just derivations; yet 
that the writings of Mr. Home Tooke supplied him 
with any important discovery or principle in philo- 
logy, is more than he can affirm. The truth is, all 
the writings of that author are more imposing, smart 
and witty, than sound and solid, just and profound. 

* The author bad frequently heard of Hornc Tooke's ingenious work 
on language; but thinking it was like the other works on language he 
had seen, only ingenious mysticism, he felt no desire to see it, till being 
on a visit about forty miles from London, the diversions of Purley were 
brought from a literary institution and put into bis hands by a friend B8 
a book suited to his taste. 



INTRODUCTION. V 

It is with regret that the author has thus to charac- 
terize the labours of his meritorious predecessor, 
almost the only philosophic philologer of modern 
times ; but truth requires him to make abatements 
where he had wished to give unqualified praise; and 
it must be remembered that the philological labours 
of Mr. Home Tooke were performed in the evening 
twilight of life. " He has done that best which no 
one ever did well." If he did not actually lay the 
foundation of philosophic grammar, he cleared away 
much of the rubbish of grammatical absurdity ; and 
if vulgar grammarians and lexicographers have con- 
tinued to adhere to the old system, it only proves 
that they are too dull to profit by the instructions of 
Mr. Home Tooke. 

As the author continued to study his subject, it 
became progressively more simple to his perceptions 
than he thought it could possibly be in its own na- 
ture ; for we are so educated and disciplined into the 
belief of abstruseness and ingenious mysticalness, 
connected with learned and philosophic questions, 
as to be constantly overlooking obvious truth, or 
deeming it not worth finding and raising into the 
dignity of science. Every man of any pretension to 
philosophic thinking, would blush to refuse for his 
motto: Simplicity is the seal of Truth. But who 
does not seem to consider it the badge of intellectual 
poverty ? Frequently has the author felt over his 
discoveries as Bruce did at the source of the Nile. 
Frequently has he been ready to exclaim with the 



VI t INTRODUCTION. 

good Parisians, who had anticipated a grand spectacle 
at the entree of the allies : Is this all ! 

As maybe supposed, the more that he studied words 
in different dialects, the more did he ascertain their 
true nature and origin. It was not, however, till he 
analized the alphabet and resolved its diversities into 
their primary form, that he could experiment with 
certainty on etymology. It was now discovered and 
proved at every step, that as men have few ideas, 
few senses, and are familiar with few objects, so 
there are few primitive words. 

The author presumes that the utility of the follow- 
ing work will not be denied by any competent judge, 
whether viewed in reference to the acquisition of 
language, or to clear perception and correct reason- 
ing. It contains, however, only the first fruits of an 
abundant harvest of knowlegde and utility that may 
be derived from philosophic etymology ; and as this 
is a new field of literary exertion, the author hopes 
the labourers will be many. He trusts that the 
wond will soon be presented with rational grammars 
and dictionaries of all the ancient and modern dia- 
lects. He is willing to set an example of labour and 
industry ; and intends to prepare as soon as possible 
an English dictionary, — a Hebrew grammar and 
dictionary, — ai.d a Latin grammar and dictionary. 
These will not take twenty years' labour ; but they 
are quite enough for one man. 

It is to be hoped that some one will unfold the 
nature of the Chinese characters more simply and 



INTRODUCTION. VII 

intelligibly than has yet been done ; and that a Greek 
grammar and dictionary, on the plan of lexicography 
adopted by the author, will be presented to the world 
by some philosophic philologer. Here, if the author 
might with propriety call on individuals to come for- 
ward, he would name Dr. Crombie ; but whether 
that gentleman shall choose a lexicographic depart- 
ment in the field of philology, it is at least to be 
hoped that he will attempt something in language 
more worthy of his intellect than he has yet per- 
formed. It is to be hoped too, that Mr. Whiter will 
return to etymology and create the matter of Etymo- 
logicon Magnum, into a simpler, more useful, and 
attractive form. It is to be hoped, that all who per- 
ceive the nature and importance of true philology, 
will lend their assistance in promoting its interests. 
There must be many in this country, though un- 
known to the author, who have juster notions of the 
subject than those which prevail ; and it would give 
him infinite pleasure to see them united into one 
great Philological Society. 

As the author has mentioned Mr. Whiter, he takes 
an opportunity of recommending Etymologicon 
Magnum ; for with all its mysticism and confusion, 
(and he is sorry to say it contains both,) it is calcu- 
lated to be a useful ally in the cause of philology ; 
and he knows no works fitter to be read as prepara- 
tory to Philosophic Etymology, than Etymologicon 
Magnum and the Diversions of Purley. Every 
reader of the present work may not have seen that 



Vlll INTRODUCTION. 

of Mr. Whiter, and therefore the author takes occa- 
sion to introduce a few quotations from it as a speci- 
men of the principles on which it proceeds, or rather 
to show how much they coincide with the principles 
of the following work. 

" Here then, (says Mr. Whiter,) we obtain at once 
a species of uniformity which leads directly to the 
hopes of forming a regular system. Even this in- 
stance alone (of the name father) would be sufficient 
to convince us, that some controuling principle pre- 
dominated in languages by which they might readily 
be submitted to the laws of a general theory. Words 
uttered by the passing breath we have ever been 
accustomed to consider as the most fleeting, change- 
able, inconstant and capricious of all the objects with 
which man is conversant, [so they would have been 
if originally the creatures of breath :] yet we perceive 
that a word most liable to change and perversion has 
remained invariably the same through a period of at 
least three thousand years ; if we consider only its 
existence from the time of Homer, without involving 
ourselves with the remote periods of the Sanscrit 
Language. This instance I must again repeat, would 
alone be sufficient to convince us, that uniformity of 
some sort perpetually prevailed ; and the same fact 
we accordingly find in all the instances afforded by 
every etymologist who has collected the same words 
as they appear in different languages." 

" Surely the contemplation of these facts will im- 
press on every mind a similar train of ideas ; and the 



INTRODUCTION. ]X 

reader has already anticipated my reasoning and my 
conclusion on this subject. He will be struck with 
the deepest astonishment, that facts like these per- 
petually passing before the eyes of the etymologist, 
should never have suggested the principles of a theory 
and the laws of a system. Among objects liable to 
the influence of chance and change it is not possible 
to conceive a species of uniformity so full and im- 
pressive as that model of regularity which is here 
exhibited. The varieties of mutation are bounded 
by limits of controul almost incompatible with the 
vicissitudes of change ; and nothing but a fact so 
striking and unequivocal would have persuaded us 
to believe that such constancy could have existed in 
a case where disorder and irregularity might be alone 
imagined to predominate. These words after having 
passed through millions of mouths in remote ages and 
distant regions of the world, under every variety of 
appearance and symbol, still continue to be re- 
presented by the same consonants — not indeed by 
consonants bearing the same name, for that perpe- 
tually varies with the form of the symbol ; but by 
those consonants which grammarians have always 
considered to be of the same kind and invested with 
the same poieer" 

" On every fresh view of the question, we shall 
still more and more be lost in wonder,* when we cast 

* It is to be wished that Mr. Whiter would deal less in su,ch phrases 
as wonder, astonishment, marvellous, &c. : a philosopher is seldom lost in 
wonder or struck with astonishment, and he seldom deals in exclama- 
tion. 



X INTRODUCTION. 

our eyes over the present state of etymology, and 
consider that in the conjectures of those who profess 
this art all is caprice and uncertainty, while in the 
art itself, every thing is constancy and uniformity. 
It is assuredly marvellous, that no conclusion of this 
sort has been regularly established as a general princi- 
ple for the foundation of a theory, when the fact itself 
is thus gross and palpable — operating on all occa- 
sions — and universally displayed in its fullest point 
of view by the etymologist himself, in every detail 
of parallel, cr of the same words as they appear in 
different languages. To a fact like this it was im- 
possible to be blind : — our etymologists have seen 
and acknowledged it ; and even some hardy theorists 
have ventured to assert, from time to time, that con- 
sonants only were the radicals of words. Still, how- 
ever, nothing was accomplished on this foundation : — 
no regular system was formed on such an idea, illus- 
trated by facts and confirmed by a series of examples. 
Nay, on the contrary, the operations of the etymo- 
logist appear to have been conducted as if by a kind 
of instinctive impression, he had even shrunk from 
the adoption of this principle as from a notion abhor- 
rent to his art. Without any clue to direct his foot- 
stops in the great labyrinth of language, he has wholly 
surrendered up his reason to the guidance of chance; 
and yet in the wildest wanderings of his erring and 
extravagant spirit, which has afforded so fertile a 
topic to the powers of ridicule, he seems as it were 
almost cautiously and purposely to have avoided the 



INTRODUCTION. XI 

application of such an idea, as an insurmountable 
barrier to the progress of his enquiries. The etymo- 
logist is perpetually employed in deriving words 
from each other, which are totally dissimilar in form 
and appearance, unguided by any con-taut or general 
principle, which he had before established ; but 
prompted only by the instant and accidental sugges- 
tion of whim and caprice. Still, however, when the 
dissimilarity has arisen from a cause which is alone 
connected with a principle of uniformity, there and 
there only (as it should seem) the wildness of con- 
jecture has seldom ventured to interpose. The dis- 
similarity of words arising at once from different 
vowels and from consonants, bearing a different name 
and form, though of the same kind, has ever pre- 
sented before the view of the etymologist a deep and 
dark veil through which his eyes have been unable 
to penetrate. Thus it has happened, that words 
rendered dissimilar by the effect of a certain process 
from which alone they can be proved to be alike, have 
remained in our conceptions, toto ccelo, removed and 
distant from each other. The boldest amorm* the 
tribe of conjecturers have rarely ventured to imagine 
that any affinity existed among words disguised by 
this peculiar dissimilarity ; and when even the dif- 
ference arising from different vowels only was the 
object of their meditation, they failed not to proceed 
with due caution in detailing the progress of these 
mutations, and to assure us with great solemnity 
that A. became E. in one nation and I. in another/' 



Xll INTRODUCTION. 

" Having thus endeavoured briefly to explain the 
simple fact, which relates to the various mutations of 
these cognate consonants, I shall now close my re- 
marks on this subject ; as it is only from a consider- 
ation of the examples themselves that we can under- 
stand the peculiar mode in which those changes are 
produced. If the reader perchance in the spirit of 
captious objection should be disposed to observe, 
that I have assumed to myself an ample sphere for 
the exercise of my theory or my invention;* and 
that with such a latitude of change, transformations 
of every kind may readily be effected : I have only to 
reply, that this variety of mutation cannot justly be 
charged on him who had no share in its production ; 
and that the confusion arising from this latitude of 
change (if any such should be found to exist) is not 
the fault, but the misfortune of the writer who has 
ventured to pursue an intricate and embarrassed 
theme through all its perplexities and all its devia- 
tions. I have described only a plain simple fact, 
which it was my duty faithfully to detail ; and 
according to this fact must all my researches be 
minutely regulated. If we have seen that words 
belonging to each other assume these various forms, 
and appear under these disguising garbs, it is our 
business precisely to ascertain the number of these 
varieties and the nature of these disguises. We may 
lament, indeed, that the forms should be so numer- 

* This remark is still more applicable to the theory of the present au- 
thor than to that of Mr. \\ liiter. 



INTRODUCTION. Xlll 

ous ;* but we shall rejoice that they are still found 
so regular and similar ;— if we are perplexed by the 
difference of the garb, we shall be guided by the 
uniformity of the badge ; and if these various shapes 
should elude our search, by the frequency of change 
they will grow familiar to our knowledge by the 
constancy of recurrence. The writer who has pre- 
sumed to develope the principles of a new theory, 
must expect to encounter the suspicions of the 
cautious and the cavils of the captious/' &c. 

" Without enquiring into the cause of these kindred 
significations being attached to the same consonants, 
we well know that it did not arise from the figure of 
the symbol; and therefore it is infinitely futile and 
unmeaning to confine the influence of this principle 
within a sphere of action which has no reference to the 
operations of the cause. " " I must again repeat what 
we shall instantly acknowledge, that a general idea per- 
vading a race of words with the same consonants, is not 
attached to the name, but the nature of the symbol. — 
That is not a necessary attendant on the form of the 
symbol which is an arbitrary sign perpetually chang- 
ing ; but it is an inseperable adjunct to the power 
and property of that symbol, whatever form it may 
assume and by whatever name it may be called. " 

This quotation is a tissue of mysticism, absurdity 
and dogmatism, utterly unworthy of the enlightened 
and sound remarks that precede. Mr. Whiter, indeed, 

* This is much to be lamented, though in fact it is the boasted copia* 
The whole of the above remarks are very just and exceedingly important. 



XIV INTRODUCTION. 

is philosophic by fits and starts, rather than con- 
stantly or uniformly. He says, "without enquiring 
into the cause of these kindred significations being 
attached to the same consonants ;" but though he 
thus slipped off from the difficult enquiry, it was the 
true starting post of true etymology. As to saying 
" we well know it did not arise from the figure of the 
symbol" it is sufficient to tell him, that he knew no- 
thing at all about what he was asserting, or whereof 
he was dogmatizing ; and as to the expression : " infi- 
nitely futile and unmeaning" it is a sort of bullying 
boldness to make up for the weakness of his percep- 
tion and the timorousness of his understanding. 
The truth is, on this point, Mr. Whiter was lost in a 
mist of indistinct perception ; but rather than con- 
fess ignorance, he had recourse to the usual auxiliary 
of bewildered theorists — bold and positive language. 
The first sentence of the following quotation is of the 
same stamp, the rest is excellent. 

" Here then we perceive our theory is at last com- 
pleted. [Not yet ; it began not at the beginning, and 
it never reached completion or perfection.] It is per- 
fect in all its parts and furnished for all its purposes. 
The similarity of languages has been the theme of 
eternal discussion. A few scattered and scanty ex- 
amples of their coincidence have been perpetually 
urged; but the whole subject has been involved in 
the most impenetrable obscurity, embarrassment and 
confusion : — here at last we have discovered the im- 



INTRODUCTION. XV 

portant clue which will guide* us safely and readily 
through all the windings in the great labyrinth of 
human speech. — Here at last we have obtained what 
has been ever sought but never discovered— the uni- 
versal or original language — not indeed existing in 
the fleeting forms of any peculiar system or artifice 
of speech, but in those first and original elements 
which universally pervade the whole machinery of 
language — performing in every part the same func- 
tions and operating to the same purposes." Intro- 
duction to Etymologicon Magnum. 

The author of the above work does not appear to 
have thought clearly or profoundly on his subject, and 
therefore does not always write definitely : he speaks 
of the machinery and operations of language — the power 
of the original symbols — of letters being impregnated 
with ideas — of w T ords being instinct with the energies 
of mind — in short, he often writes in the manner of 
Dugald Stewart, rather than that of Home Tooke, 
Hobbes, or (if we may name on the occasion the 
philosopher of philosophers) the great Yerulum. 
Still, however, Mr. Whiter deserves well of man- 
kind, and is to a certain extent entitled to the praise 
of original thinking and discovery. It is presumed 
that the work of Mr. Home Tooke has been not only 
read, but studied by every one who makes any pre- 
tension to philological knowledge, and therefore 

* Itis presumed that Mr- Whiter will have tha candour to acknowledge, 
that he only almost discovered the clue which is now altogether put into 
the hand of the philological student. 



XVI INTRODUCTION. 

it is unnecessary to quote from it in this introduc- 
tion. 

Perhaps the reader may wish to know what dialects 
the author has had recourse to and found most sub- 
servient to philological purposes. The Hebrew, 
Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, French, Gothic, 
Saxon, German, Dutch, Welch, Scotch, and of 
course English have been all consulted. The Welch 
has been referred to merely by means of a grammar 
and dictionary ; but has been found very useful even 
in this way. The Greek has been very little attended 
to, being in reality the unfittest dialect in the world 
for philological purposes. The Gothic of Codex 
Argentum, like the Saxon of the Durham Book, is 
after all the talk about it no dialect whatever, except 
a Babylonish one — a sort of mongrel lingo of the 
monks. Even Alfred's Saxon translations from Latin 
are, as to termination, structure, &c. more Latin than 
any thing else ; and therefore (except the radicals 
which are common to the dialects in general) cannot 
be regarded as of any authority, or trusted to for 
direction in philological questions The fault of 
grafting Greek and Latin idioms and terminations, 
&c. on the native dialect has always been the vice 
of translators. It is justly remarked by Adelung, 
" that for several centuries the Latin was rendered so 
literally, that even the article was left out ; and the 
whole construction of the Latin with the participles 
and many other peculiarities were rigourously ob- 
served. It is for this reason that we ought not to 



INTRODUCTION. XV11 

judge of the spirit (he might have added the letter) of 
a language from such translations." Mr. Home 
Tooke has flourished rather too much (for the lasting 
reputation of his research) about Gothic and Saxon. 
The dialects in which the author has most studied 
the nature and origin of words, are the Hebrew, 
Latin, Dutch and English. The English he is best 
acquainted with, and therefore found it most suitable 
for his purpose, after he learned to consider every 
letter significant, and to resolve every variety of every 
letter into its primary form. Previously to such a 
state of philological progress, no language is so un- 
suitable for etymological experiment and research as 
the mother tongue. Next to the English, the author 
has to make his acknowledgements to the Dutch. 
This is the plainest speaking, most intelligible and 
sensible (that is, it appeals most to the senses) of all 
the dialects. Few events would cause to the author 
so much regret, as to see this good, plain dialect su- 
perseded by snivelling, flippant, senseless French. It 
is a shame to an English and especially a Scotch 
philologer to be unacquainted with Dutch ; for it is 
so nearly the same as his native dialect, that he has 
hardly any thing to learn in becoming acquainted 
with it ; and, as the author of the Recovery of De- 
cayed Intelligence has justly remarked, it is the 
oldest Gothic remaining. It is low German, or the 
language of the vulgar ; and the vulgar are always the 
last to change their opinions, habits, customs, and 
above all their language. It would be easy to prove 

G 



XV111 INTRODUCTION. 

indeed, that Dutch is in reality older and truer 
Gothic than that of Codex Argentum. 

The dialect after the Dutch and English, in which 
the author has most studied philology, is the Latin ; 
and next to them, (if we do not except the Hebrew) 
it is the fittest for the purpose. When he first re- 
solved to create a rational system of grammar and 
lexicography, he pitched upon the Latin, as both by 
its sturdy, masculine character, and its extensive dif- 
fusion, (for it evidently constitutes much of the 
modern dialects) entitled to preference above the 
Greek ; in which the real alphabetic signs — the con- 
sonants, have been as in a kind of euphonic spite 
gnawed down into musical notes — or evanescent, 
uncertain, ever-changing vowels. A Latin grammar 
and dictionary containing the same words in all their 
variety of spelling, in all the varieties of dialect, are 
in a state of considerable forwardness, and were in- 
tended to be published before any other of the author's 
projected philological works ; but his opinions and 
manner of writing being likely to unite the learned 
casts against him and provoke classic hostility, he 
thought it necessary to gain his primary object by the 
circuitous course of an English grammar and dic- 
tionary. He has never even in his gloomiest mo- 
ments, when exhausted with anxious reflection and 
toilsome enquiry, despaired or doubted of ultimate 
success ; but he has always expected the fate of a 
Reformer — he has always anticipated resistance and 
hostility ; and therefore without praising folly or 



INTRODUCTION. XIX 

flattering prejudice, wished to adopt such modes of 
attack as would enable him most certainly and 
speedily to triumph over ignorance and bigotry, and 
put down learned absurdity. 

As certain persons have been very loquacious 
about the greatness and impossibleness of his under- 
takings, he may be permitted to inform them that he 
wrote every word of the present work within the 
space of five weeks, in the midst of many inconve- 
niences, interruptions and distractions ; spending 
six hours of the day too in school, besides attending 
to other duties. The truth is, he had intended not 
to send his promised work to the press for several 
months, but finding that some were prophesying that 
it could not be performed, he thought the best me- 
thod of terminating all doubt about the question, was 
to sit down at once and write the book. It is to be 
hoped that henceforth certain persons will not mea- 
sure every one by themselves. Works which they 
suppose would take such a mighty number of years, 
the author will pledge himself to perform in as many 
months. It takes much time and labour to construct 
labyrinths and Babel-systems ; but the energy of 
original thinking can easily and speedily create the 
chaos of learned absurdity into light and simplicity, 
order and utility. 

The author has to regret, that prejudice operated 
so as to make him neglect the Hebrew for several 
years after he had succeeded in teaching himself to 
read it with considerable facility. He had despised 

c 3 



XX INTRODUCTION. 

it as poor and defective, harsh and uncertain ; and it 
was not till lately that he had recourse to it for ety- 
mological purposes : he found, as he had uniformly 
found, in every examination of new dialects, (dialects 
new to him) all his philological principles confirmed 
and illustrated ; — he found not only that Hebrew and 
English are essentially the same language, but that 
the former, if not the oldest, is one of the ancientest 
dialects, and one of the fittest for etymology. He 
concludes this introduction by giving an analysis of 
his philological principles, that they may be seen 
and examined in their most naked form. 

1. There is nothing arbitrary about language. 2. 
All the dialects as Hebrew, Celtic, Greek, Latin, &c. 
are essentially but one language. They have such 
diversities as may be termed idioms ; but with all 
their circumstantial varieties, they have substantial 
uniformity : they proceed on the same principles and 
have the same origin. The philosophic grammar 
and lexicography of one, is in reality that of all. 
3. There are no words primarily and properly insig- 
nificant 4. There are many words that have ceased 
to be significant, as they are commonly employed. 
Many of the particles, including affixes and prefixes, 
conjunctions, prepositions, articles, &c. are of this 
description, and may be termed the mummies of 
language. $. Every word that cannot be identified 
with the name of a sensible object, is either partly 
or wholly mummified. 6. The use of insignificant 
words, or using words insignificantly, is the chief, if 



INTRODUCTION. XXI 

not the only cause of verbal, that is metaphysical 
imposture ; and all unintelligible or false reasoning 
is merely metaphysical imposture. Metaphysics as 
a science could have never existed but for the mum- 
mies of language, and the relics and ghosts of meaning. 
7. All words are primarily and properly metaphorical ; 
or to vary the expression, — language whether spoken 
or written, originated in simile ; and metaphor is com- 
monly explained to be — " a simile comprised in a 
word." The author does not wish to dispute about 
such unmeaning or half-meaning terms as metaphor, 
&c. ; but he wishes it to be distinctly understood, that 
the vulgar errors — he means the errors of the literary 
vulgar, respecting metaphorical and literal terms, are 
the cause of much metaphysical imposture, much 
critical, logical, grammatical and rhetorical nonsense. 
What are called literal terms, such as time, space, 
mind, spirit, &c, are like worn out coin, or effaced 
inscriptions, the meaning or value of which, being 
never ascertained, occasions everlasting conjecture 
and controversy. 8. iVlmost every sentence is ellip- 
tical. 9. Almost every word is put elliptically. 
10. Almost every word is a compound of two or 
more words. 11. All words are resolvable into a 
few primitives ; or thus, all the seeming multitude 
of words are merely various spellings and pronuncia- 
tions of the names of a few striking and familiar 
objects ; as the head, foot, hand, eye, ear, mouth, &c. 
12. As all words are resolvable into the letters of the 
alphabet, so all the letters of the alphabet are resolv- 



XX11 INTRODUCTION. 

/ 

able into one primary form. 13. That primary form 
was employed as a sign or representation of visible 
objects. 1-k This method of significancy by simili- 
tude, is the origin of all written language. 15. There 
are very few words, which were primarily unwritten, 
or which originated in an imitation of natural sounds. 
If these principles can be overturned, the philo- 
logy of the author will prove of course a baseless 
fabric. 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 



PART I. 

THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF ALPHABETIC SIGNS. 

It will be admitted by all who have thought suffi- 
ciently on the subject, that the letters of the alphabet 
must have been originally as significant as the figures 
or signs of arithmetic ; and as there is a relation 
between these two methods of significancy, the one 
may be employed to explain the other. Every person 
possessed of sight can see how and why i. signifies 
one ; ii. two; iii. three: it is equally intelligible how 
V. o, should signify Jive ; because though somewhat 
altered from its original shape for the sake of easy 
formation, it was a sign or representation of the hand 
consisting of five fingers or digits : so X. which is a 
compound sign, consisting of two of the other, (in 
other words, two signs for two hands with ten fingers) 
signifies ten. If instead of putting the two signs of 
the two hands or semicircles (the original form) back 
to back, (oc changed into x.) we put them face to 



24 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

face, (cd. or joined into a circle o.) then we have 
what is called a cipher, which so far from being a 
nought or insignificant, is the same as X. ; only it is 
always accompanied by another sign.* Thus 10 is 
one-ten; 20 is two-ten, or twice-ten contracted into 
twenty ; 30 is three-ten or thirty, &c. As each of 
the arithmetical signs is encreased or multiplied ten- 
fold, when removed a degree towards the left, 100 is 
ten times ten, or one hundred ; 1000 is ten times a 
hundred, or one thousand ; hence the reason why x 
is the sign of multiplication : -f- plus is (as will be 
shown under conjunctives) the Samaritan -j-, answer- 
ing to the Hebrew n, the Saxon ! S, our own T. t., 
&c. ; being a conjunction which is found in all the 
languages, or rather dialects. It would be equally 
easy to explain the significancy of every arithmetical 
sign, but my present business is with alphabetic 
signs. 

It is hoped that the intelligent enquirer is already 
prepared to consider the alphabet as consisting of 
real signs, and to resolve all its letters into their pri- 



* In the Polyphemian Dictionary, a cipher is explained to be " An 
arithmetical mark, which standing for nothing itself, encreases the value of 
the other figures! /" So it appears that nothing can create something; 
according to the popular doctrine of all things being made out of nothing, 
in spite of all that the logicians have said about nihil begetting nihil. The 
common mistake, however, respecting the cipher as if it were a nought, 
is not so surprising as a thousand other mistakes on familiar subjects, con- 
cerning which men have been always accustomed to rote and repeat, but 
seldom slop to think or reflect; and Ihe author shall not wonder if some 
controversy be necessary before the poor cipher obtain justice. 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 95 

mary forms. Several, if not all the letters of the 
alphabet, are evidently varieties of the same forms or 
figures, and therefore our shortest method in treating 
of them, is first to resolve all the varieties or deriva- 
tives into their primary forms. 

It is presumed that for analysing the alphabet the 
following principles will be admitted by all sound 
philologers: 1. Letters of smoother and easier utter- 
ance are to be considered as growing out of those of 
harsher and more difficult utterance, but not vice 
versa. Thus gutturals (or letters formed in the 
throat) become dentals (letters formed by putting the 
teeth together) ; dentals become labials (letters formed 
by closing the lips) ; consonants become vowels ; 
but vowels do not become consonants, nor labials 
gutturals. The reason of the foregoing principle is, 
all men, — savages, philosophers and musicians, prefer 
smoothness to harshness, facility to difficulty, and 
ease to labour. The evidence of the principle is, 
the history of all the dialects of the world. There is 
not a' single instance of vowels becoming consonants, 
or labials gutturals ; but there are multitudes of in- 
stances of gutturals becoming labials, and labials 
becoming vowels. 

Second principle. Those forms of letters most 
speedily and most easily written, or rather graved, 
(for graving on leaves of trees, on stone, wood, lead, 
brass, &c, was the first mode of writing and print- 
ing,) are to be considered as derivatives, varieties, or 
corruptions of those forms graved most slowly and 



26 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

difficultly, but not vice versa. This matter may be 
easily ascertained. Let any one cut out of wood 
with his penknife all the letters of the alphabet, and 
he will be convinced that the more circular any letter 
is it is graved with more difficulty, and the less cir- 
cular, it is graved with the greater facility. In this 
view, the hardest letter in the alphabet is O., and the 
easiest I. ; the Samaritan v is much easier than O. ; 
and the Greek A is much easier than D. or d. ; the 
Saxon E is easier than C. ; and Er than G., &c. 

It follows from the first principle, that vowels are 
to be resolved into consonants, and that all consonants 
are to be resolved into gutturals ; and it follows from 
the second principle, that straight-lined and angular 
letters are to be resolved into circular letters. Thus 
I. grew out of J., which arose out of G. ; V. from IL, 
which is merely a slight variety of C, or the He- 
brew D ; w. from uu ; M. m. from CO (being merely w. 
or uu. reversed) ; N. is V. both upwards and down- 
ward ; n. is u. reversed ; A. is the same as V., only 
with the angle upwards and a stroke across ; which 
stroke constitutes the only difference between it and 
the Greek a. ; and when we come to the canon of 
etymology, we shall have occasion to show the con- 
nexion between A. changed into L. contracted into 1. 
and V. or U. ; Y. like r. v. is primarily the same 
form ; E. s. e. is obviously resolvable into C. ; and O. 
is so plainly the same letter as to render any remark 
superfluous; X. as we showed when glancing at 
arithmetical si^ns, is two Ws or two C.'s ; Z. is a 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 27 

variety of £., which like S. is a double form of C. 
exactly like the French and Spanish g. both in form 
and sound : T. t. r. t. D. ! S. C with several other 
varieties are resolvable into D. d. b. h 0. S. 0. ; which 
areas plainly resolvable into C. G. Q. q. D. ^changed 
into H.) ; the sameness of form is evident in d. 
b. (B. is two half circles), p. q. ; F. f. digamma or 
double gamma, is resolvable into T. f. y. which 
is merely a variety of D. or C. G., &c. ; R. r. (p. $. p. 
Greek, "i. Hebrew), is also like L. 1. (*?. Hebrew), 
radically the same as n. C. G., &c. ; K. is properly 
*. or %• being merely a different form of X. %• or ra- 
ther oc. 

We shall treat more minutely of the primary form 
of the letters when instituting the canon of etymo- 
logy ; but it is evident from the foregoing analysis, 
that there is in reality but one figure or form in the 
whole alphabet ; and that the first alphabetic signs 
were circles or circular marks ; they were the kind 
of hieroglyphics which the Egyptians very properly 
named Curiologic, " The hieroglyphics of the Egyp- 
tians were distinguished into Curiologic and sym- 
bolic ; for instance, in the Curiologic way to express 
the sun, they made a circle (or O.), the moon a 
crescent," (or D. G. C). 

The Curiologic or circlegraphic method of signifi- 
cancy, may be considered as the short-hand of hiero- 
glyphics. The first representation of the sun, was 
such a picture of him as we see painted on a sign- 
post, called the sign of the sun; so of the moon, the 



28 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

globe, &c. ; but as this was tedious and difficult, the 
representation was abridged — the rays of the sun were 
left out, and he was represented by a circle : so of 
all other circular objects respectively ; as the heaven, 
the earth, a millstone, an ear, an eye, mouth, &c. 
There can be no doubt, however, that in the first 
instance even the abridged representation would as 
much as possible indicate the particular circle or 
round object intended. Thus, to denote the horison, 
world, (cr-alt great circle) or globe, a very large circle 
would be drawn ; to indicate a drop of dew or any 
other very minute round object, a very small circle 
would be made : and here let me observe, that the 
period ( . ) is a diminutive circle or o. ; the colon (:) 
is two diminutive circles ; and the comma ( . ) hemi 
or semi, is half a little circle or o, and the very same 
as the Greek * ' and Hebrew •» (of which 1 is a some- 
what larger form) ; hencejW changed into^W, again 
changed into dot is employed to signify diminutive- 
ness ; and hence too, the reason why the comma and 
period are both employed to indicate contraction ; 
as Dr. or Dr, &c. The largest circular form or sign 
in the Hebrew alphabet is D, and the smallest is \ 

The above representation of alphabetic signs, as 
originating in curiology, and of curiology as a con- 
tracted form of hieroglyphics, will, I fear not, stand the 
severest scrutiny ; but it is natural for the investigator 
to enquire first, why should circular representations 
only be employed as signs ; and secondly, are they 
competent to all the purposes of language ? In reply 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 29 

to the first question, the only reason which I can 
assign is, the prevalence of the circular form in the 
objects both of nature and art. The sun, moon, 
heaven, earth, and most objects in it, as hills, trees, 
&c. are of a round form ; so also is the human body 
and all its members, as limbs, fingers, toes, eyes, ears, 
head, &c. If, therefore, a representation of objects 
was adopted as a sign, it must of necessity be round 
or roundish to be like them. I shall not be surprised, 
however, if the inquisitive philologer is not at first 
satisfied with the above reason of the fact, (fact, I 
scruple not to name it, being established by every 
experiment I have made in Hebrew, Celtic, Gothic, 
Greek, Latin, &c.) for it was long before I could 
be myself content with it. I could easily resolve all 
the letters of the alphabet into a circular form ; I 
could easily find a reason why the circular form was 
a real sign in most of the instances upon which I ex- 
perimented ; but I could not be persuaded that the 
circular figure was sufficient or competent, and was 
determined if possible to find the straight line form 
( — or |) ; the angular (V.) ; the triangular (a.) ; the 
quadrangular (D.), which with the circle (O.) would 
have fully satisfied me. It was my misfortune as a 
theorist, actually to find all these forms in the He- 
brew, Greek and Roman alphabets (which are only 
however corruptions of the circular form) ; and 
though I have been a philologer only three years, 
my affection for the above theory — my unwillingness 
to be convinced that the first written language was 



30 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

Curiologic, caused me to lose half my time ; besides 
occasioning much toil and distracting anxiety. 

As to the competentness of the curiologic method of 
significancy, it cannot be rightly judged of a priori : 
indeed none are competent to judge of it, but those 
who have studied deeply the nature of words and 
their connexion with ideas ; most scholars (for there 
is a wide difference between a scholar and a philoso- 
pher) would stare incredulously if we were to state 
to them what we consider the clear amount of their 
words and ideas ; they would think it impossible for 
the human mind to have so few ideas, or for so few 
words to accomplish the purposes of speech : small 
objects seem great' in a mist, and a few seem an in- 
finite multitude in a wilderness of confusion. Who 
that has not previously considered it, would believe 
how many changes can be rung with four or five bells — 
how much variety of music can be brought out of a 
few notes or produced on three or four strings ? 



THE CONNEXION BETWEEN ALPHABETIC SIGNS 
AND INTELLIGIBLE SOUNDS CONSIDERED. 

A proper enquiry here is, whether there be a spoken 
language wholly independent of the written one. " I 
see, (said Mr. Home Tooke, in a letter to Mr. Shaw, 
of Hanley,) by the general contents of your plan, 
that you are aware that when we speak of the Eng- 
lish language, we speak in fact of two distinct lan- 
guages ; I mean a system of signs addressed to the 
ear by .sounds, and a system of si^n.s addressed to the 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 31 

eye by written characters." It is impossible to as- 
certain now precisely what this acute philologer 
meant by a system of signs addressed to the ear ; for 
the few sounds employed as imitations and repre- 
sentations of sounds, (and sound can properly re- 
present nothingbut sound) are not entitled to be called 
a system. It is admitted that all such words as hiss, 
whisper, croak, crash, howl, (formerly hul) cuckoo, 
(coo — coo or cul — cul), coo, chirp, (or chirr) turtle, 
(or tur — tur) ; and in short, all words whose import 
appeals primarily to the ear, originated in sound — are 
intended to imitate and therefore represent sound ; 
and that in committing them to writing those letters, 
were chosen (without any regard to figure) which 
were best calculated when pronounced to give the 
sound intended. Some, indeed, have denied that 
there is any such thing in language as imitation of 
sound, or of designating living creatures by their 
cry ; as crow, (a softened pronunciation of croak) 
cuckoo, owl, (contraction of howl or hul) ; and the 
reason assigned for their opinion, is, that if the name 
or word were copied from the sound, it would be the 
same in all languages : but there is no reasonableness 
in the foregoing reason ; for the same word is not only 
liable to be much changed both in pronunciation and 
spelling, in passing along through different dialects, 
but even in the same dialect at different periods of 
time ; and the same object or creature has frequently 
different names founded on different reasons. Thus 
lapwing, (a contraction of flapwing) plover, teewheet. 



32 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY* 

peewheet, are different names of the same bird ; the 
first originating in the flapping of its wings, the 
second in its frequenting wet or marshy places (plu- 
vier, French ; pluvialis, Latin) ; and the two last 
names are evidently imitations of its cry. But 
though it is unreasonable to affirm that no words are 
imitative representations of sound, it is yet more un- 
reasonable to affirm that written language originated 
in spoken language ; or that signs addressed to the 
ear generated the signs which are addressed to the 
eye ; or that there is any mode of significancy merely 
by sounds entitled to be considered a system. This 
is one of the most difficult and controvertible parts of 
philology, and not absolutely connected with the 
general principles of the present work ; but having 
touched upon it I shall communicate the result of 
my reflection ; persuaded that it will be found essen- 
tially correct when philology is advanced to a much 
higher state of discovery than it has ever yet at- 
tained. 

1. Significancy by signs (that is, as the word im- 
ports what are seen; sign being from sig see) was 
prior to any significancy by sounds : the language of 
signs is the language of nature ; the language of a 
man born deaf was before that of one born blind.* 
Secondly, the same system of curiology must have 
prevailed at a very early period, before the human 
family was scattered abroad in the world ; for it can 

' See more of thi.s in Reason the Arbiter of Language^ 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 33 

be shown that Hebrew, Gothic, Celtic, Greek, Latin, 
&c. are radically the same language ; and that they 
not only proceed on the same principles, but contain 
the same words. The Chinese cannot be admitted in 
evidence on this subject till it be better understood, 
and more rationally explained. 3. The first attempt 
at articulate sounds or speech, was by expressing with 
the mouth the form of curiologic signs. The shape 
of the mouth in pronouncing many of the letters is 
still of a circular form, as the broad a, the u, the o, 
as well as all the gutturals : this the enquirer may 
ascertain by observing the mouth of a friend in form- 
ing the letters ; or his own mouth before a looking- 
glass. It is probable that in the first instance men 
conversed wholly by looking, not by listening even 
in employing the mouth ; and that the different mo- 
difications of sound emitted from the mouth, (which 
modifications of sound result from the modification 
in the form of the organs of speech,) were a subse- 
quent step of improvement and conveniency, not 
contemplated when the mouth was first applied to 
curiologic signs ; which application of the mouth 
was not anticipated when these signs were first em- 
ployed ; and which signs were not contemplated 
when hieroglyphics were invented : thus, in the use 
of signs, men were led on step by step from hiero- 
glyphics or picture-writing, tocuriologics, an abridged 
form of the former ; from curiologics engraved or 
drawn on any substance, to the expression of them 
by the mouth ; and from the expression of them by 

D 



34- PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

the mouth to the eye, to the expression of them by 
sound to the ear. The last was a great improvement, 
enabling men to converse in the dark as well as in 
the light ; as the preceding step of improvement 
enabled them to interchange thought with a degree 
of facility and expedition, which no dexterity in 
graving or writing could ever rival. 

The above explanation may not perhaps convince 
and satisfy every enquirer ; but I am bold to say it 
is the simplest, most intelligible and philosophic 
representation that has ever yet been given : as for 
those who still continue to consider language as arbi- 
trary, or as invented and taught by the Deity, they 
must not be offended if I tell them that they are un- 
worthy of notice. It is as justly as wittily remarked 
by Mr. Home Tooke, that the assigning of a divine 
origin to the invention of letters, is a short cut which 
saves much trouble, but perpetuates much ignorance. 
It is far more reasonable, however, to consider lan- 
guage as a super-human invention, than to speak as 
some yet do of words being arbitrary signs. Perhaps 
the author has not successfully explained the origin 
of language, but it will be admitted, he presumes, that 
in the space of a few pages he has pushed the subject 
further than any other writer, and put it in a train of 
being at last well understood. 



( 35 ) 



PART II. 

I 

THE CANON OF ETYMOLOGY. 

1 his is by far the most important part of the 
present work, being the foundation of all rational 
and useful philology ; and as nothing of the kind has 
been attempted, (for whatever may have been said 
about etymology, no one will affirm that it has been 
reduced to a certain science,) I shall therefore be more 
full and minute than is absolutely necessary to the 
more advanced and philosophic philologer. I shall 
endeavour as much as possible to supply illustrations 
and proofs from the English language ; but it must 
not be considered as unsuitable to the nature of this 
work, and especially this part of it, if I sometimes 
avail myself of appropriate instances from other 
dialects. The following principles, it is presumed, 
will reduce etymology to a certain science. 

1. Meaning, rather than pronunciation and spelling, 
is to be considered as the great guide of etymologic 
investigation.* 

* The above principle ought to be carefully considered by the young 
etymologer ; it was long the only guide the author could trust to : by 
this alone he was frequently preserved from being lost in the wilderness 
of words, and was safely conducted through the labyrinths of Babel- 
grammars and dictionaries. 

D 9 



3b PHILOSOPHIC 


ETYMOLOGY. 


Gr. Lat. 


It. 


Fr. 


Sp. Ger. 


KeQafy, cap-ut. 


, cap-o, 


chef, 


cab-eza, kopf 1 
haupt § 








Dutch. 


Sax. 


Eng. 


Welch. 


hoofd, 


heafod, 


head, 


siad. 


Heb. Gr. 


Lat. 


It. 


Fr. Sp. 


•W 0<pQoc\[j,o;, oculus. 


, occhio, 


ceil, ojo, 


Ger. 


Dutch. 


Sax. 


En- 


auge, 


oog, 


eag, 


eye. 


Gr. 


Lat. 


It. 


Fr. Sp. 


Ilous * 


pes | 

ped-is y 


piedel 
pie § 


pied* 

• \ P ie > 
pie y 


Ger. 


Dutch. 


Sax. 


Eng. 


fuss, 


voet, 


fot, 


foot. 



The similarity of spelling and pronunciation is not 
very obvious in these different forms of the same 
word, but the idea is manifestly the same. The 
identity of idea furnishes a presumption that the 
names for it are merely varieties of the same word, 
which differs from itself only as the same person dif- 
fers from himself at different periods of life, and in 
different countries according to variety of habit, &c. 
It will be presently seen that all those varieties of 
guises and disguises of the same word, as it appears 
in Judea, Greece, Italy, &c. are accountable for on 
certain and regular principles ; but prior to the 
knowledge of such principles, it ought to be consi- 
dered as an axiom : — Ideas, rather than Words, are 
the uuides of Etymology. And it ought to be 
admitted as an etymological postulate: when two or 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 37 

more words have the same idea, the presumption is, 
that they are radically and truly the same word under 
different forms of spelling. This, indeed, holds so 
generally and uniformly, that it may safely be con- 
sidered an axiom ; and those instances wherein it is 
contradicted by investigation, will amount to no 
more than a few exceptions to a general rule, if in- 
deed any exceptions can be found. 

2. Every word is to be considered significant. 
Unmeaning words, that is insignificant signs, are fic- 
tions of brainless metaphysicians.* It will be seen 
hereafter that some words are applied insignificantly, 
but in treating of them etymologically, or what they 
are primarily and properly, every word is to be con- 
sidered significant. 

3. Every syllable of every word is to be considered 
significant. 

4. Every letter of every syllable is to be considered 
significant. v 

The two last positions must be restricted ; for 
though every letter be properly significant, yet letters 
through ignorance, carelessness, mistake, haste, de- 

* That no words are absolutely insignificant in any language, has been 
fully proved by Mr. Home Tooke, and admitted by all the soundest phi- 
losophers cf Europe ; yet Dugald Stewart has committed the reputation 
of his understanding, by asserting in opposition to the New Philosophy, 
(as he cantingiy writes,) that many words are as insignificant as the letters 
of which they are formed. If he means that words may be used insignifi- 
cantly or abused, his own writings supply abundant proof of his position; 
but no one except a mere pretender to philosophy would say, that either 
words or letters are primarily and properly insignificant. 



38 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

fective organs of hearing and speaking, are frequently 
used insignificantly or improperly. Almost all the 
double letters in every language come undei the fore- 
going remark, as bb, dd, 11, rr, ss, tt, &c. The 
French and English (for the latter through the fop- 
pery of courtiers and travellers has been long dangling 
after the former) languages have been grossly mispelt, 
especially during the last two hundred years. Almost 
all that has been done to fix (as it is called) our 
orthography, has been an ignorant ejFort to pervert it. 
Rational etymology ought to fix the meanings, ap- 
plications, spellings and pronounciations of words ; 
but such men as Dr. Johnson were ignorant of true 
etymology. They had only power to do evil — suffi- 
cient knowledge to construct a Babel of confusion 
and labyrinth of perplexity. 

Whenever letters are introduced for the sake of 
easy utterance or smooth sound, (commonly called 
euphony) they are to be considered as employed 
insignificantly. This is often the case with the 
vowels. 

N.B. The languages which have fewest vowels 
are fittest for etymological purposes, as the Hebrew,* 

* The Hebrew is admitted by all the soundest Jewish and Oriental 
grammarians to have no vowels. Mr. Wilson and others are very angry 
at them for it, and absurdly rave about absurdity. " The greater part of 
Jewish grammarians have had the audacity or rather absurdity to affirm, 
that all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet arc consonants and not one of 
them a vowel : — an opinion which, it is astonishing thai many learned 
men well skilled in oriental antiquities, and no ways indulgent to Jewish 
fables, have adopted and maintained." Wilson's Hebrew Grammar. 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 39 

&c. ; and those which have most vowels or use vowels 
most frequently, as the Greek and French, are fitter 
for musical petits maitres than any etymological, or 
indeed any philosophical purpose. 

5. All words are primarily and properly the signs 
of visible objects. 

This proposition must be restricted and explained. 
I mean not that such combinations or uses of letters 
as. are employed merely to represent or imitate sound 
as hiss, bark, bray, (brack,) howl, (hul,) &c. have any 
connexion with visible objects. Sound cannot be 
seen or painted ; we cannot, properly speaking, have 
an idea or image of sound. Locke and others speak 
of words as signs of ideas ; but I prefer the more 
definite and more just expression, signs of visible 
objects. The expression being new, though very 
intelligible, may want explaining. Sign I use ac- 
cording to its proper meaning, as the past participle 
of sig (now spelt see,) sign (or sigen now contracted 
into seen) ; it is only a different spelling and pronun- 
ciation of token, being formed of 



aug-en 
and °' \ (eye) to eye or be eyed, 





Signs therefore have to do properly only with visible 
objects. It amounts to the same meaning, whether 
we say words are signs, of objects or ideas, that is, 
the images of the objects ; for what is like the ori- 



40 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

ginal must be also like the copy. Thus, when you 
look into a mirror, there is an image or idea (the word 
is radically the same as idol from ss^eu video,) of your 
face in the mirror ; there is another in your imagina- 
tion (from image) or fancy, (from qouv— ) : you might 
make a picture of your face from the mirror or from 
your fancy ; which picture would correspond at once 
to the face, its image in the mirror, and the idea of 
it in the mind : and if that picture were shortened or 
contracted in the manner of curiology, (the short- 
hand of hieroglyphics or picture-writing,) it might 
be properly called a sign of the visible object, the 
face, or of the image of it in the mirror ; or of the 
idea of it in the mind ; for being a resemblance (how- 
ever distant and imperfect) of the one, it is also a 
resemblance or sign of the other. I mean not to go 
further into this important subject here ; but what I 
have said will sufficiently open the nature of signs 
and ideas to intelligent enquirers. The language of 
Mr. Locke and all our metaphysicians is exceedingly 
indistinct and indefinite ; as for good Mr. Dugald 
Stewart, always the friend of the true nature of the 
soul, its laws, data, phenomena, and always the 
enemy of infidel philosophy ; if he makes use of a 
little metaphysical mistiness, it is to be charitably 
interpreted into a pious fraud : he only endeavours 
to escape infidel detection (for the worst of all atheists 
is the New Philosophy), by concealing his theory in 
the vacuo of abstraction or insignificant phraseology: 
ideas he has discovered are very bad to deal with and 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 41 

must therefore give place to notions. If the worthy 
proiessor has any regard for the safety of the true 
theory of the mind, he will take up a new position as 
speedily as possible ; for notions are too nearly re- 
lated to note and notice to be long tenable against the 
assaults of the new philosophy, and especially the 
new etymology. 

N.B. The preceding or fifth proposition, is implied 
in the second, third and fourth, but I wished to 
express my meaning so definitely as to leave no 
doubtfulness. 

6. Every word is primarily an adjective ; that is 
expressive of some quality, circumstance, or manner 
of being. This proposition is in reality the same as the 
second ; for no word could be truly significant with- 
out expressing some quality, circumstance, &c. of 
that to which it is applied. Mr. Home Tooke has 
hinted, that all words are resolvable into the noun or 
name ; but if there be in the name a reason for its im- 
position or application, (and without a reason of some 
kind or other, it could never have become a name,) 
then it is resolvable into what has been called an 
adjective ; for we must use the best grammatical 
terms we have, though there is hardly one of them 
fit for our purpose. 

Illustration of the proposition. Urbs is orbis, that 
is, surrounded, encircled (namely, with a wall so as 
to be fortified), houses or habitations being under- 
stood. Roma, Rome is merely a softened and more 
musical form of the same word. City contraction 



42 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

of civitas is also an adjective signifying a chief or 
capital, something more being understood (which 
was originally expressed) to make the sense complete. 
When we say the capital, it is an abridgment of the 
capital, or head town of all the towns in England. 
Town, which is used as a substantive in the above 
sentence, is also resolvable into an adjective, signi- 
fying primarily like urbs, an encircled or enclosed 
place ; and was formerly not confined to habitations, 
but applied to gardens, [garded places) parks, &c. 
(the same as burgs which also are the same as towns), 
and in Dutch a garden is still called tuin. Head 
contracted from heafd, hafd, from caput, cop, top, 
(the regular change of c. into t will be noticed here- 
after,) is an adjective, signifying like heaven, (hof is 
a garden in Dutch,) hoop, coop, cup, round; only 
what round or circular form intended in every particu- 
lar instance, was originally as much as possible indi- 
cated by other words. The above are sufficient illus- 
trations of the proposition: — Every word is primarily 
an adjective : and it will receive illustration and con- 
firmation from all the subsequent parts of this work. 

7. Almost every word is a compound ; for as will 
be hereafter clearly shown, there are very few simple 
words. Count is compounded of con, com, and 
put-o, (computo, compute, com-pon-o, compound, 
combine, composite, &c.) put with or join together. 
Aid, It. ajuto, Fr. aide, Sp. ayudo, Lat. adjut-us, 
a, u m is compounded of ad, and juveo (a variety of 
help), each of which separate parts is itself a com- 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 43 

pound ; so that the investigator must not hastily 
suppose himself arrived at the simple primitive, even 
when he has analysed a long word into a single sylla- 
ble or single letter.* 

N.B. Every simple word consists only of one syl- 
lable, but every monosyllable is not a simple or un- 
compounded word. 

8. The constant tendency of words in passing from 
mouth to mouth is to contract, not to dilate— to lose, 
not to assume letters. Speech is a contraction of 
sprech (Ger.), not sprech a dilatation of speech ; 
seek is a contraction of search, (k and ch. will be 
hereafter proved one and the same letter,) not search 
a dilatation of seek. Alum, is a contraction of 
alumen ; ambry, of almonry ; as, of als ; each, of ilk, 
ealk, &c. ; bay, of bark ; daggle, of draggle ; guide, 
of gelead ; behoof, of behalf ; speckl, spangle, of 
spreckle, sprinkle, &c. ; palsy, of paralysis ; (hence 
paralytic,) big, (magn, &c.) of bulk, bulge ; bishop, 
of episcopus ; chit, of child ; bust, of breast ; (a 
statue representing a man, to the bust or breast ; 
speaking of an antique, we say the head is marble 
and the bust or breast is porphyry or bronze) ; corse, 
(hearse also) of corpus ; catch, (also cat, katz, Teuton. 
kite,) of clutch, clinch, &c. ; caw, of croak, crow, 
craw, &c. ; chime, of chirme ; cit, of citizen, (of 
civitatisen) ; coach, (coche, Fr.) of carriage ; couch, 
of crouch, curve ; covenant, of convenant ; (so Co- 

* See more of this in the Pioneer of Rational Philology. 



44 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

vent-garden is a contraction of Convent-garden, 
Coventry of Conventry) ; mock, of mimic ; mite, 
moth, mote, of minute ; moan, of mourn ; mule, of 
mingle. The reader will perceive how much the 
mass of words may be thus diminished, and the wil- 
derness of language simplified by resolving the 
numerous synonimes, that is various spellings, into 
one word. The author is not speaking extravagantly, 
though somewhat paradoxically, when he tells the 
reader that he could put all the matter of Johnson's 
dictionary — the whole of his copia verborum into a 
nutshell. A thousand instances might be added to 
those above given, not only from the English, but 
from all the dialects of Europe. The enquirer will 
observe, that the letters which chiefly fall or fly off, 
or melt away, are those most difficult to the mouth 
and grating to the ear ; as the guttural c, k, g, but 
especially 1. and r. These letters (1. and r.) have 
been called ironically, perhaps, liquids. They are 
never easy to the mouth and seldom pleasant to the 
ear. When suffered to stretch out between long 
vowels, as in Almora, Alara, they are musical enough; 
but when wedged in between two stubborn con- 
sonants, no hedgehog is harsher to the mouth of 
dog than these same liquids are to the mouth and ear 
of man. Hence they are employed to express harsh 
sounds ; as croak, creak, bark, bray, growl, groan, 
gjmnt, grumble, &c. 

The principle contained in the above proposition 
and ngnijUancy seem to have, been the only etymo- 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 45 

logical rules and principles in possession of Mr. Home 
Tooke, though he does not adhere uniformly and 
consistently even to these (scanty as they are) ; for 
he unreasonably supposes that r. the most difficult 
and repulsive letter to the organs of speech in all the 
alphabet, to have been assumed in such words as 
bridegroom, &c. ; though he had previously entered 
his protest against such arbitrary assumptions. 

Observe : while the orthography of any people is 
not fixed by acknowledged standards, the spelling 
follows the pronunciation ; every writer expresses, 
or attempts to express the prevailing sounds by the 
most appropriate letters : hence, first "the variety of 
spelling among our old authors, which variety how- 
ever prevailed chiefly with the vowels which ever 
have been, (and from their nature ever must be,) 
changeable as the cameleon and uncertain as the 
wind ; and secondly, the reason why many of our 
pronunciations are more contracted than our spel- 
lings, as calm, calf, chalk, talk, Holborn ; pronounced 
as if spelt cam, (or caam) caf, check, tak, Hoburn, &c. 
Those words most frequently in use are most liable 
to be contracted ; and they contract more rapidly in 
the mouth of the illiterate vulgar, — mincing courtiers 
and insects of fashion than in the mouth of the 
learned,— professional men, — and the middle class of 
the people. Extremes, it is often said, meet, and 
when my ears were lately saluted with such pronun- 
ciations as Lunun, (for London) ; gemmen, (or some- 
thing more like it than gentlemen,) from the mouth 



46 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

of a royal duke, I could not help reflecting how very 
nearly high life and low life, the Court and Wapping 
(or Petticoat Lane) are related. It is to be hoped, 
however, that the good sense of the English people 
will prevent them from capering after the mincing, 
frisking imitators of France and Italy; who, like the 
flippant Greeks before them, are always pleasing their 
ears at the expense of their understanding : smooth 
sound is nothing, (except to musical asses,) distinct 
and forcible expression is every thing in language : 
the composition of a Frenchman or Italian can neither 
be distinctly profound nor powerfully expressive ; for 
in a kind of musical spite he has gnawed down the 
real alphabetic signs into a cluster of vowels, which 
he can breath or snivel out with a face as composed 
as if he were blowing into a pandecui or through the 
French-horn. 

Let it be observed once more, that the preceding- 
proposition (the tendency of all words is to contract) 
applies rather to consonants than vowels ; and that 
the cases in which words elongate even for the sake 
of easy utterance and pleasant sound, or by the stut- 
tering pronunciation which some combinations of 
letters produce, (as the 1. and r. when occurring near 
each other,) are extremely rare. 

N. B. No one is fully qualified for etymology, who 
cannot satisfactorily or systematically account for 
the insertion or omission of every letter of every syl- 
lable. 

9. The tendency of all words is to become 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 4? 

smoother; those letters and combinations which are 
more harsh, changing into such letters and combina- 
tions as are easier to the mouth and pleasanter to the 
ear; not vice versa. The smoothest letters in the 
alphabet both to mouth and ear are vowels ; there- 
fore consonants often change into vowels, but vowels 
never change into consonants.* The easiest and 
smoothest consonants are s, n, m, p, b, v, f, (all these 
are interchangeable, and as we shall show presently 
to be considered only varieties of one letter,) z, t, d, 
(varieties of the same letter next in smoothness to 
those that precede) ; the hardest consonants both to 
mouth and ear, are r, 1, g, k, c, h, th, with their va- 
rieties : therefore the last enumerated often change 
into the first, but not the first into the last. 

Remark : the above statement is made in reference 
to the proper primitive guttural sound of g. and c. ; 
for as to their modern sounds (the same as j. and s. 
before e, i, and y,) they range under s. ; being among 
the easiest pronunciations that are found in the 
whole compass of speech, and therefore we find in 
Italian, (as also in Spanish,) d. passing into g\ as : 

* For the same reason agreeably to a principle laid down when treat- 
ing of the nature and origin of alphabetic signs, all the vowels originated 
in consonants. Some Oriental scholars affirm, that there are no vowels 
in the Hebrew alphabet; others as strenuously contend that it contains 
five (the usual quota) vowels. The truth lies between them, for there 
are five letters in the Hebrew alphabet, that may like our v, u, y, j, i, &c. 
be called half vowels, half consonants. They had already though slowly 
journied from the bottom of the throat to the extremity of the lip, and were 
become little more than an emission of breath. 



48 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

Lett, diurnus, It. giorno; hodie, oggi ; modius, mog- 
gio ; radius, raggio, &c. 

The easy and soft utterance of g. and c. before e. i. 
and y. shows the tendency, and as we may say, con- 
stant effort of letters to assume a more pleasant form 
to the organs of speaking and hearing; and how 
from one figure proceeded all the variety of the 
alphabet. The r. and the s. may be considered as 
the two extremities ; the first being the most diffi- 
cult, and the last the easiest letter in the alphabet ; 
and yet the first frequently passes into the last with- 
out any intervening letters. Thus, from ure, is use ; 
from ur-o urere, is ussi ustum ; and frequently r. 
passes into s. in all the dialects. 

The next letter in smoothness to s. is n., and we 
frequently find the more difficult letters first passing 
into n. and from n. into s. At one time our genitive 
(as it is called) and plural termination (for it will be 
seen that the same word has always as a termination 
performed both offices) was er ; a few relics of which 
yet remain : as our, that is, we-er ; your, you-er ; their 
they-er : afterwards the er was softened into en, a few 
relics of which yet remain, as gold-en ; mine or 
me-en ; thine, corruption of thou-en or thee-en; oxen, 
plural of ox. In a few instances we have a double 
termination, the new form not having supplanted 
but having been grafted upon the old ; as child-er-en 
(which is still pronounced child-er in many country 
places,) wester-en, south-ern, &c. In process of 
time the s. superseded the n., as the n. had ejected 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 49 

the r. ; and it is now our regular genitive and plural 
termination : as boy, boy's (or of boy) boys, the 
plural of boy ; girl's (or of girl) girls, the plural of 
girl ; * formerly it would have been boy, boyen (of 
boy), boyen the plural ; or further back still, it would 
have been boy, boyer (of boy), boyer plural. 

The above are sufficient illustrations of the prin- 
ciple ; but that it may be made more certain and 
familiar to the reader, that harsh words tend to be- 
come smooth, the following instances are annexed : 
Curt, short; kirk, church; dash from ding, (from 
dring, Dutch) ; dag, from dirk ; dagger, from dirker ; 
discure, discern, descry, &c. from discover ; discuss, 
from discurs-o, discourse ; dredge, from dreg or drag; 
burrow, from burgh ; brig, bridge ; sample, from ex- 
ample ; cutlass, from curtelass, curtelax ; dusk, from 
dark ; feat, from fact ; fast, (also fist, the fixed, fast, 
or closed hand,) from fixt, fixed ; forfeit, j* forfault ; 
goss, gorze, furze ; maxim, softened from magnum, 
and also contracted into axiom ; mess, from meat, 
(from mouth,) and contracted into eat ; much, mass, 
many, from magn — ; musty, fusty, from mouldy, &c. 

* The intelligent reader will be before hand with my explanation, in 
discovering the real nature both of the plural and genitive termination, 
(which is in reality also the termination of the infinitive, as it is called, of 
verbs and the termination of adjectives, participles, &c.) ; he will perceive 
that the only difference between them is, that the genitive has the apos- 
trophic ' ; which difference is rather capricious than reasonable, for there 
is the same reason for its insertion in both cases, namely, the elision 
of the e« es. being contracted into *. 

t Forfault an estate is the expression in Scotch writings; that is, an 
abridged or elliptical phrase for to lose an estate, for, per, or by fault, 

E 



-50 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

10, The vowels are so inconstant that they cannot 
be much regarded in etymology, but they are ever 
to be considered as proceeding from and resolvable 
into the guttural C. G. or circular sign. Thus air 
is to be considered as a softened form of cir, cor, &c. 
(a circle), what encircles, surrounds, or encompasses 
the earth ; it is the same as the first syllable in hor- 
izon, (op-^wv) only the last is applied more technically 
or with more limitation ; all is the same as ^ D whole; 
a wheel or circle being originally the symbol of com- 
pleteness, perfectness, and totality. Era, sera, is the 
same as ^a, xa^-o^, %f-ovo;; as also of year, hora, hour, 
&c. ; which all signify primarily a circle, like while, 
which is merely a varied spelling and pronunciation 
of wheel* Observe, that dipthongs as in rera, gene- 
rally indicate that a consonant has been in the place 
which they occupy. Ire, as also ir-on, ore, &c. (ur-o) 
is properly fire, or rather cr. (first of all the circular 
sign) : let it be remembered, that the first I. was J. 
and that the first J. was G. or C. ; A. is V. with the 
angle upwards; and V, W, Y, U, and O. all originated 
in C. or G. 

Observe, that of the vowels, (as they are termed,) 
o. and e. are nearest the primary form; and I. i. is 
furthest from it. The dot above i. j. as above y. in 
Saxon and Spanish, &c. was originally (like the 
marks in Greek, called accents, circumflexes, &c. &c.) 

* The intelligent philologer will perceive how easy it were to multiply 
instances from the different dia]ects f but I wish to confine myself in this 
work m much as possible to the English language. 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 51 

significant ; that is, it denoted as it does under Dr. 
Mr. contraction. 

1 1 . The letter s. is to be considered as only a sub- 
stitute for the other consonants, especially the gut- 
turals C, G, R, L. Illustrations of the above propo- 
sition : — Ort-us is softened into east, rising — supply 
part, quarter, &c. ; easter, [er is a usual adjective 
affix) the rising or resurrection — supply time ; the 
day on which Catholics and Episcopalians comme- 
morate the resurrection of Christ : choice, (for when 
c. has the sound of s. it is to be considered as the 
same in all respects,) is from keur, Dutch ; resolvable 
into x sl S the instrument of taking or choosing : the 
noted word heresy is primarily the same word with 
the same meaning. Castle, Bastile, caster, Chester, 
castrum, is properly Car-tal, tel, ter, great circle or 
fortification ; whatever is walled or fenced round, as 
a camp, town, or garrison (Fr. garnison) ; son like 
zon in horizon, (the same word as garrison) is, as we 
shall show, the same as tal, tel-, tor or ter, which 
occurs so often as a termination. 

It follows from the foregoing proposition, that in 
etymological investigations, the s. is to be resolved 
into other letters, especially r. .- thus glass, gloss, 
glister, glare, gloria, clear, &c. are all primarily one 
word: they have different applications, and ap- 
pear to have different ideas; but they have, after 
all, only one and the same idea. 

12. The nearest consonant to the s. in smoothness 
and easy utterance, is n.; and it is difficult to conjecture 

e 2 



52 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

how French noses would manage to speak without 
it and its nasal twin m. ; for they only require a 
gentle grunt through the snivelling organs, to soothe 
dainty ears with much sweet melody.* 

The n. like s. is to be regarded as merely a substi- 
tute for other letters, (that is, a varied form of them 
having an easier and smoother utterance,) especially 
/. and r. 

Illustrations of the proposition: — Kind (Dutch,) is 
a softened form of cild, now spelt child ; kind-ei\ of 
child-er ; all the following words are merely varied 
spellings, answering to varied pronunciations. Fool, 
fou, buffoon, (Fr. buffon,) that is, big fool, (hence 
fun) fond ; male, man ; sol, (Lat.) son, (Dutch,) 
sun ; can, cal, col, hence could is the imperfect (as 
it is called) of can ; it is resolvable into goll changed 
into hond, hand ; as 3 2 is resolvable into b 2 iden- 
tical with x £l § '> which, as we shall see, performs 
many offices in speech, and if it were not that such 
terms are prostituted, we would call it the prime 
minister of language. What the hand is among the 
members of the human body, the name of it is among 
words — almost the factotum of significancy. If the 
principals displace the substitutes in man-us, it will 
be cl, cr, or gr. ; hence ger-o, fer-o, &c. In the fol- 



* The author trusts that he is above any silly national antipathy; but 
he thinks it right to supply an antidote to French vanity, and that mawk- 
ish affectation of the French language, (the very worst in Europe for the 
real purposes of speech,) which prevails among our frivolous race of fash- 
ionable literati. 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 53 

lowing words /. and n. are evidently to be considered 
as one letter. Can, con, cane, col, core, cir, some- 
thing round ; cancel, carcel, to cross a writing ; 
cand-eo, cal-eo ; can-o, softened into sing from car-o ; 
hence carol, carmen, charm ; cingle, circle ; clean, 
clear ; con, know, ken, that is, col or cul, contraction 
of ocul-us ; the literal meaning of ke?i, is to see or eye ; 
gnash, clash ; hand from goll, hence hold, help, &c. ; 
sheer, sheen, contraction of clean, clear ; hone, keen ; 
gar, cer ; hence sharp, sour, &c. Vinegar is literally 
sharp or sour wine ; alegar is sharp or sour ale. 

Observe, that n. is merely u. reverted or turned 
upside down, and like u> it is used chiefly as a sub- 
stitute or smooth expression of/, and r. ; and like u. 
it is both prefixed and affixed tog. to express a varied 
sound of that letter : thus, as ug. and gu. occur fre- 
quently, merely for the sake of utterance, so ng, gn, 
occurs frequently for the same reason. Thus, pang-o, 
was anciently pag-o; magn-us, magus. G. frequent- 
ly becomes ng. and gn. in Welsh ; as gwas nyddlon, 
a faithful servant ; fy ngwas, my servant ; ei gar, his 
kinsman ; fy nghar, my kinsman. 

13. The m. is the next letter to the n. in smoothness 
and in frequent occurrence, as a substitute for other 
letters, especially for the r. and /. As n. is u. turned 
upside down, (or u. n. turned upside down, for pro- 
bably the n. was before the u.), so m. is w. turned 
upside down. The sameness of form (for u. is a 
reverted n. and w. is a double u., and m. is a reverted 
w.J, the similarity of sound and their frequent inter- 



34 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

changes, prove that they are only slight varieties of 
the Sctme letter. Thus, the m. of the Hebrew ter- 
mination, is n. in the Chaldee ; the termination ov, or 
on in Greek, is in Latin urn; av , is am ; as ptertfr, 
musam ; but no one acquainted in the smallest de- 
gree with language, wants instances to prove that w. 
and m. like v, u, and w. frequently interchange. 
When Alfred wrote, and long after, the w and m. 
were employed indifferently, without any distinction : 
thus, in the second line of the Preface to the Para- 
phrase of Boethius, we find both with and mith. *f On 
thsere tide the Gotan of Siththiu maegthe, with Ro- 
manaricegewin upahafon and mith heora cyningum." 
Though with only remains in our dialect, met, mede, 
is the Dutch form of it ; and I need scarcely remark 
on the following as slight varieties : ,«-era, per, p=6', mith, 
with, met, mede, (Dutch,) meet, met:* to match is 
the same as to wed, only custom has given a more 
confined application to the latter than to the former; 
mad, was formerly spelt wud, wood ; a contraction 
of wild, an adjective from wold, wald, &c. now con- 
tracted into wood. 

M. is the substitute of 1. as in moon from lun-a 9 
contracted from arexrpy ; hence maniac (rather mooniac) 
aLd lunatic are synonymous. 

11. All the labials, b, p, f, v, &c. are to be consider- 
ed as substitutes, or rather varieties of the gutturals. 
We have already shown that these letters originated 

• \VV shall hereafter show, that, what is called the conjunction (J,£V, 
the termination men, ment, &c. are all only varieties of the same word. 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 55 

in the gutturals or rather guttural; for there was 
originally but one form of letter, the C. or circle, pro- 
nounced gutturally or in the throat; but for the 
satisfaction of the reader we shall give further proof. 
The form and name of F. (being called digam ma,) show 
that it is resolvable into r. the Greek, form of G. ; 
V. which interchanges with F. is a different form of 
U. a contraction of C. or D ; b. and p. are like the 
Hebrew Koph p. a variety of Caph D. The sameness 
of form in b, d, p, q, is evident from this, that apiece 
of paper cut into the shape of any one of them, may 
merely by position become all the rest ; and any per- 
son who chooses to examine 3. 3. 3. D. p. carefully, 
will be convinced, I presume, that there is hardly 
any diversity to the eye; so little diversity indeed, 
that learners can hardly discriminate them ; and per- 
sons not much in the practice of forming Hebrew 
letters, can hardly make them distinguishable ; and 
the Hebrew letters are evidently the parent forms 
both of the Greek and Roman letters. The reader 
will observe, that *?, is only a slight variety of 2 ; 
and that 1. is merely a contraction of ^ ; that a. is 
a reverted v. v. v . or u. ; and that P. the Greek R. is 
exactly the same as our P. ; therefore they are all 
in reality but one letter.* Hence b, p, v, w, f. like 

* The author is more minute than he wishes to be; but though he 
might have contented himself with simply referring the acute philologer 
to an inspection of the alphabet, yet his principles could not have been 
made intelligible and evident to all readers without a more tedious pro- 
cess. The intelligent enquirer already perceives, no doubt, that all the 
letters of the alphabet are in reality resolvable into one. 



o6 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

m, n, and s. which we have already considered, in- 
terchange with the other letters and are resolvable 
into the gutturals ; only it must be remembered that 
the more difficult forms change into those that are 
more easy, not vice versa; gutturals change into la- 
bials, &c. but not labials into gutturals. 

Illustrations : bell-um, (from pell-o, to strike or 
beat,) duell-um ; bell-us, duell-us;* don-um, bon- 
um ; bis, from duo, &c. Frequently as a termina- 
tion b. and d. interchange : thus verb, word, barb, 
beard. 

Ge and be used to be indifferently prefixed to 
words, (as they are still in the Dutch,) but the be 
being the easier and smoother form, ge has wholly 
disappeared ; fotoken would have been formerly ge- 
token, bespatter, ^spatter, &c* All the termina- 
tions in ive (a Latin termination) were previously ic 
or ig ; thus, such words as digestive were digestic 
like domestic. j- In the same manner such words as 
gall, are softened into bile ; but the most important 
remark respecting the labials is, that like the letters 
we have already noticed, they are to be considered as 
representatives not only of C. and G., but also of 
R. and L. 

\5. The dentals, or those letters which in pronun- 

* The author has wished as much as possible to illustrate and confirm 
his principles from the Enylish; but they arc equally applicable to, and 
demonstrable from the Hebrew, Greek and Latin dialects. 

t Thus all the terminations in y. were in ic or ig, as frosty, frostig, or 
frostic : in other words, the c or g. has gradually softened into y, v, &c. 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 57 

ciation require the action or shutting of the teeth, are 
also resolvable into the gutturals. That they are 
radically the same appears from their form ; the only 
difference in form between D. d. and C. or D. is the 
straight line conjoining the extremities of the semi- 
circle ; D. $. is a slight variety of the D. and it 
seems to have originated T. ; unless, indeed, as the 
form of the last letter seems to indicate, it was at first 
merely a double I\ having the projecting top both to 
the right and the left ; the Saxon t. and old English 
SC. are scarcely distinguishable from C. or C. : the 
Hebrew "7. and ""l. are hardly distinguishable, and 
CO, n, H, H, are obviously the same letter. The radi- 
cal identity of the dentals and gutturals is apparent 
from their frequent interchanges ; many words are 
spelt both in Latin and modern dialects with ci, si 
ti, di, indifferently ; and the most legitimate modern 
dialect of the Latin gives Giorno for Diurnus, Oggi 
for Hodie. Observe, that the soft sound of c. is to 
be considered as s. and the soft sound of g. as j. or 
di. ; and when the C. and G. have this sound, they 
interchange indifferently with s. and t., &c. or these 
with them ; but when the C. and G. are pronounced 
with their proper guttural sound, the rule holds that 
has been so often repeated — difficult and harsh letters 
change into such as are smooth and easy ; and there- 
fore D. T., &c. are resolvable into C. G., &c. ; not 
vice versa. It is unnecessary to give instances of d, 
t, th, &c. sliding into the easier and smoother forms 
of n, z, s, ; my object is to show, that they are truly 



OS PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

substitutes or varieties ofC,G, L, R. : thus yvopof, 
8vo<pos, darkness ; ytoKv$, favxuc, dulcis, (connected with 
yXowa, lingua, tongue, (the 1. being dropped) talk, 
&C.) ; Ulysses, OSvtrcrtvg; peXsraw, meditor ; pvfateof, 
madidus. 

" The ancients, (remarks Ainsworth,) said dingua, 
(answering to our tongue) for lingua ; sedda, for sella ; 
cadamitas, for calamitas ; arventus, for adventus." 
Such was really the fact, that some whose organs of 
speaking and hearing had been trained into smooth- 
ness among the Greeks, attempted by spelling as they 
pronounced to introduce greater smoothness into the 
Latin language ; but they could not prevail against 
general practice. If such spellings (answering to the 
mode of pronouncing) as dingua, sedda, cadamitas, 
had been the ancient primitive forms, which in pro- 
cess of time changed into lingua, sella, calamitas, 
they would have supplied the most anomalous and 
unaccountable phenomenon in the whole history of 
language. What people ever preferred labour to 
ease, difficulty to facility ? We might as well sup- 
pose that a savage would prefer the gnawing of an 
acorn to the sucking of a grape, as believe that any 
people ever changed smooth and easy for difficult and 
harsh letters, or combinations of them. 

" No circumstance (says Eustace, in his Classical 
Tour) relative to the Italian language, is so singular 
and so unaccountable as its softness. The influence 
of the peasantry as well as that of the northern bar- 
barians, must have tended to untune the language, 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY, 39 

and fill it with jarring and discordant sounds ; yet 
the very reverse has happened, and the alteration 
has been conducted as if under the management of 
an academy, employed for the express purpose of 
rendering the utterance distinct and easy as well as 
soft and musical." 

The author from whom the preceding quotation 
is taken, was something of a polite scholar but no- 
thing of a philosopher. The circumstance which ex- 
cited his wonder, is neither singular nor unaccount- 
able. The vowelized softness of Greek, Italian, 
French, and of all languages in the old age of refine- 
ment, proceeds from the same cause, uniformly pro- 
ducing the same effect. Besides, the Italians, unlike 
the old Romans, but like the Greeks and the French, 
have always been an effeminate, sing-song generation. 
Had the first letters been (as many have absurdly 
supposed) vowels, we should have never known any 
thing about consonants. It is, indeed, one proof 
among many others, how little men study subjects 
which they pretend to treat of philosophically, that 
it never occurred to those who have written on phi- 
lology, that vowels are to be resolved into consonants, 
and easy consonants into those that are more difficult; 
seeing both the nature of the thing and the evidence 
of all etymology were calculated, if I may so speak, 
to compel them into that perception and conviction. 
Almost the whole of the useful, useless and mis- 
chievous varieties of words originated in the constant 
tendency of the mouth and ear, to adopt a softer^ 



60 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

smoother and easier mode of pronouncing ; and as 
we have before remarked, the mode of pronouncing 
draws the mode of spelling after it, so long as no 
standard of orthography has been established. 

16. As all the letters of the alphabet are resolvable 
into gutturals, so all the gutturals are resolvable 
into one character. I am aware that this is the most 
startling of all my propositions ; and I hesitated for 
some time whether to venture all the way in what I 
deemed the true theory of language at my first ap- 
pearance before the public ; for if it was not till after 
long vexatious controversy, that the discoveries of 
Bacon and Newton were admitted ; — if none of 
Harvey's contemporaries could perceive that he had 
demonstrated the circulation of the blood ; an humble 
individual giving a theory of language entirely dif- 
ferent from all ancient and modern systems of esta- 
blished reputation, and so simple as to appear at first 
sight absolutely naked, might well fear that by at- 
tempting too much he should perform nothing. But 
I could not reconcile myself to the idea of doing my 
work by halves ; or of employing the artifice of Mr. 
Home Tooke, of keeping, or seeming to keep the 
important secret and proof in reserve. I was resolved 
to be frank and explicit, and to succeed to the full 
extent of my wishes, or entirely fail. I must endea- 
vour, however, to obtain a gracious reception for the 
last proposition, by offering some explanation ; for it 
will be asked, (as the author asked himself a hundred 
times,) how can one character perform all the numer- 
ous and complicated offices of speech ? 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 6i 

When I say one character, I mean one form of 
character or kind of sign, namely, the circular form ; 
but there might be originally many sizes, bearing some 
proportion real or supposed to the magnitude of 
visible objects, with other contrivances to distinguish 
one particular visible object from another, as a whole 
circle to represent the sun, and a half circle to repre- 
sent the moon ; and the sign might be repeated or 
compounded into two, three, or any number. Thus 
to express one hand, D, Caph might be employed, 
(which is still the name and sign of hand in Hebrew) 
because of a resemblance in it to the human hand in 
its usual form : to express two hands, two D. D. ; or 
C. C/s might be employed; or thus, oc. As the 
hand consists of five distinct parts or divisions, %\ 
which slightly altered, is 5, and V. would represent 
or signify five ; X. would signify ten ; XV. fifteen ; 
XX. twenty ; XXX. thirty, &c. To represent the 
mouth one C. or O. might be employed ; to re- 
present the two eyes, or seeing, &c. two OO/s might 
be employed ; or thus joining them together O— O. or 
g ; and I am inclined to think that this was the real 
origin of the combination of letters (or of the letter) 
into syllables ; as also of such letters as as B. ^ S. (or 
q.) X. and in short, of all the variety in the alpha- 
bet ; for however convenient that variety might be 
found as diversifying and multiplying sounds, and by 
consequence enabling the ear to follow a more abridg- 
ed language ; yet, very probably, that variety was in 



62 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

the first instance intended for the eye rither than the 
ear. I am persuaded, that an intelligent and philo- 
sophic analysis of the Chinese characters, will both 
illustrate and confirm the foregoing principle. I re- 
collect in particular, (for I have not access at the 
present moment to a Chinese alphabet, if I may so 
term it,) that several small circles joined together, 
are employed to represent or signify the stars. I do 
not stop here to show how many purposes of speech 
could be accomplished by the sign of the hand, or the 
eye, the mouth, or the ear, taken literally and figura- 
tively, (I suspect the two last terms convey no very 
distinct and true meaning, but I must put up with 
the use of them in this place). I have sufficiently, 
I trust, opened the business of signs, to remove idle 
wonder and ignorant incredulity. But after all, in- 
stead of putting the question how one character 
should be competent to the purposes of speech, it 
would be equally proper to enquire how a few cha- 
racters should be competent. Let it be supposed, 
for the sake of argument, (though disproved by fact) 
that there are ten, fifteen, or even twenty-six primary 
and originally distinct characters, still they could 
not be competent to the purposes of language, if lan- 
guage were what it is generally supposed to be ; or if 
it proceeded on the principles generally assigned ; or 
rather if it consisted of the infinite (almost at least) 
multitude, and wild wilderness of words piled up in 
sublime confusion by laborious lexicographers, and 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 63 

like a mountainous cairn reared by classic industry 
on true philology, boasted of by brainless pedants as 
among the greatest achievements of human intellect. 
But I am averse to any thing in the shape of mere 
theory, and shall therefore proceed to resolve the gut- 
turals into their simple primary character. 

I have repeatedly intimated that C, G, Q, K, H ? 
or D, are in reality but one letter. Of this I shall 
not stop to bring proof, because I believe it will not 
be questioned by any one who has passed beyond the 
threshold of philology. This letter being difficult of 
utterance, besides sliding into the sound of s. (for 
before e, i, and y, c. is s., and g. is j., &c.) j, b, d, 
&c. constantly tends towards other easier enuncia- 
tions, which have been marked and indicated by 
other letters, (or forms of this same letter,) as ng, gn, 
ug, gu, qu, gh, sh, th, ch, dg. 

A few instances will suffice here : magus became 
magnus ; pago, pango ; gust-o us, &c. (changed into 
taste) became guest (ghost is of the same origin — 
the mouth, breath, &c.) softened into hospes, &c. ; 
fashion from facio ; church, kirk ; (xopioLxr}) chaise 
from car ; aci-es, edge ; axe, adze, any edge-tool ; 
brig, bridge; rig, ridge. The following quotation 
from Richards's Welsh Grammar will give a clear 
and short view of the changes of the guttural. 
" Words primarily beginning with C. have four ini- 
tials, viz. G, ch, g, ngh ; as, Car agos, a near kins- 
man ; ei char, her kinsman ; ei gar, his kinsman ; 



64/ PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

fy nghar, my kinsman. Words beginning with g. 
have three, viz. G, ng, w, and the first vowel in 
the word casting away the g. ; as gwas ffyddlon, a 
faithful servant ; fy ngwas, my servant ; ei was, his 
servant. Words beginning with p. have four initials, 
p, b, mh, ph ; as pen gwr, a man's head ; ei ben, 
his head ; fy mhen, my head ; ei phen, her head. 
Words with t. have also four initials, t, d, nh, th ; as 
tad y plentyn, the child's father ; ei dad, his father ; 
fy nhad, my father ; ei thad, her father. Words be- 
ginning with b. have three, b, f, m, as bara cann, 
manched bread; ei fara, his bread ; fy mara, my 
bread. Words beginning with d. have likewise three 
d, dd, (th) n ; as Duw trugarog, a merciful God ; ei 
Dduw, his God ; fy Nuw, my God." 

The above instances show not only the changes 
which take place upon the guttural C. or G. (which 
changes follow the various modifications of utterance, 
and merely indicate diversity of sound, not of sign : 
they are to be regarded by the eye of the etymologer 
as various guises and disguises, garbs and masks of 
the same actor) but how and why the gutturals have 
in so many instances changed into dentals and la- 
bials d, t, z, s, b, p, m, &c. 

It was remarked under the propositions — Words 
constantly tend to contract — Words constantly tend 
to become more smooth— That our pronunciation is, in 
many instances, more contracted and more smoothed 
than our orthography. Thus cough pronounced as 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 65 

if spelt cof ; enough, enuf ; bright, sight, night, light, 
sought, daughter, nought, naught, &c. pronounced 
as if spelt brite, site, nite, lite, saut, dauter, naut. 

Grammarians have uttered (the first inventor was 
probably an Egyptian mystagogue, or Grecian sophist) 
many profound doctrines about * and h. being 
merely an aspirate and breathing and no letter ; and 
Dr. Gregory Sharp in his wise says accounts for the 
prevalence of it among the northern tribes by suppos- 
ing their organs of speech so contracted with chilli- 
ness, or so frozen up as to be unable to give the true 
sounds to the letters, which require the genial 
warmth of Greece and Italy. But after all, this same 
aspirate is one of the most difficult letters in the al- 
phabet ; so difficult that no Englishman can pro- 
nounce the sound which the Celts, (the native and 
original Irish, the Welsh, and Highlanders of Scot- 
land) the Goths comprehending the Germans, 
Dutch, Danes, Scotch, &c. (and I may add, the 
Jews,) give to ch, gh, &c. : as in night (or nicht), 
lough (or loch, lake,) laigh, now spelt in modern Eng- 
lish low, &c. 

Observe, that many words containing the guttural 
letter, are still more contracted and softened in the 
pronunciation than the instances given above: as 
slough, pronounced slow or sluf ; dough, pronounced 
do ; doughty, pronounced douty. Observe, once 
more,* that in this manner the guttural changes into 

* The philologer of more rapid and intuitive perceptions, will beaF 
with my prolixness in this part of my work : it is as irksome to me as it 

F 



66 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

dipthongs, or single vowels : as lig, into ly, lie, low ; 
bark, into bay; bough, (Sax. bog, bug, and meaning 
simply roundish or circular,) into bow, bay, as a 
bough, bow or bay window, a bay or concave shore ; 
to be at (or in) bay, or stand at bay — -to be surrounded 
as a stag by the hounds, a warrior by assailants. 

17. The L. and R. are in reality but one letter, 
and that one letter is essentially the same as C. orG. 
or any of its varieties.* I shall precede my illustra- 
tions and proofs of this proposition, by quoting the 
remarks of Ainsworth, (I do not mean that he in- 
vented them, for he was only a roter,) on the letters 
L. and R. in his Latin Dictionary. 

" The Latin L. is formed from the Greek A. by 
straightning one of the acute legs, (I know not what 
the good man means by acute leg,) and turning the 
other into the basis. f It has the first place in the 

can possibly be to him ; but he must remember what sort of understand- 
ings and faiths I have to deal with : any thing traditional and customary 
1 hey understand, or think they understand, merely because it is customary ; 
every thing new is strange to them and startles all their orthodox preju- 
dices. 

* It would be a waste of time to enter into a confutation of the non- 
sense of grammarians respecting L. and R. as being liquids, semi-vowels, 
and the god of mystery knows not what all. L. and R., as I have already 
shown, are musical and pleasant to the ear, when served up on broad 
soft vowels as in Almora; but when squeezed up between two sturdy 
consonants, (and originally there were no vowels,) no braying of ass or 
squeaking of pig is more grating to the car than these same semi-voioel 
li(|iii(is- anil they arc always so difficult to the mouth, that some defec- 
tive organs never acquire the pronunciation of them. 

f The meaning intended is very correct. The Greek A. is evidently 
convertible into T. the Greek G. and into L. (which is nothing but a re- 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 67 

order of the liquids ; [this remark has the first place 
in the order of absurdity,] and is as Plato, [one of 
the god's of classic mystery, absurdity and supersti- 
tion,] in Cratyl, has observed, the sweetest of them, 
and is suited to soft and easy descriptions, [hurly, 
burly, belch, bellow, brawl, and all such words as 
talk, walk, calm, in which the 1. is harshly silent in 
pronunciation, are suited to soft and easy descrip- 
tions]. It was usually sounded by the old Britons 
with a kind of aspiration, and was writ in many 
words with 11, as afterwards with lh, as in llan or 
lhan, a temple ; llau or lhau, an hand, [loof, in Scotch* 
&c. a contraction of cloof, cluf, clif, &c] ; which 
sound is made by hissing 1. obliquely through the 
teeth.* Thus, the oldest Greeks sounded its sister 
P. when initial ph. ; as phome, Roma ; which in lat- 
ter times, after h. was exterminated being supplied 
by a note of aspiration prefixed, though pronounced 
after it, was writ as now 'Pw/x^ ; and this aspiration is 
still kept in some Latin words of Greek extraction, 
as in Rhamnus, Rhetor. All the liquids by gramma- 



verted gamma, or a gamma turned upside down,) merely by changing the 
acute into a rectangle, which is that, no doubt, intended to be expressed 
by Mr. Ainsworth; but like many other makers of great books, his lexi- 
cography beclouded his understanding j and except Johnson's Dictionary, 
there never was such another Babel- building or cairn of learned lumber 
as his dictionary. 

* " LI. is L. aspirated and has a sound peculiar to the Welsh. It is 
pronounced, by fixing the tip of the tongue to the roof of the mouth, 
and breathing forcibly through the jaw-teeth on both sides, but more on 
the right ; as if written in English llh." Richards' Welsh Grammar. 

f2 



68 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

rians are called immutables ; as indeed they are with 
respect to the mutes, but not in regard to themselves, 
as we learn from Nya^, lymph a ; ager, agellus ; xsi§iov, 
lilium, n<%<tf, paulus. In some few words* the liquid 
may seem substituted for d. ; as lacryma for Sax^a, 
alacris for ate^. In numeral notes, L. is put for 
fifty, the half of C, or as anciently made by the 
Saxons E. making the curve angular [false] analogi- 
cally to V. as being half an X."-\ 

" r. Greek 'p. [r. seems to be p. and ■ united as 
r.] Hebrew -). The most ancient Greeks had both 
e p. and r. in their alphabet: witness the Baudelotian 
monument and the pillars of Herodes Atticus, where 
we find R. at least seven times ; to omit what both 
Pliny and Tacitus acquaint us with, that the figure 
of the Latin letters was almost the same as that of 
the ancient Greeks. This letter R. is in the alphabet 
put last of all her sister liquids undeservedly, and 
might pretend to the first place, since though not 

# In no word is I. substituted for d.,but in many words d. is substituted 
for I. j and so of n, m, b, and all the letters : what the grammarians mean 
by saying thai I. and r. are liquids, and that they are immutable I cannot 
, unless they be supposed to speak ironically ; for no letters are so 
unliquid, if liquid means soft and smooth, and no letters are so mutable 
.is I. ai 

f Wholly error, though not far from the truth: V. is not half X., but 
v . if double V. or two Y'sj thai is Hie sign of the hand repeated or added 
to its* if, to express ten and L. is not the half of C. but merely V., as has 
I . < n shown above with its acute angle turned into a rectangle: it is not the 
half, but 1hc whole of C. or 7. slightly varied ; which is also 5. that is, 
the Hebrew 7, L. L. denotes 50, merely J>\ abridgment, as C. denotes 
1 hundred or • ■< ntum. 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 69 

fully, yet more of it may be sounded without a vowel 
than any of the rest.* Add to this, that in the 
Greek tongue it makes a syllable pure, and takes 
before it an aspiration ; both which privileges [gram- 
marians and lexicographers have always had the pri- 
vilege of doating and raving] belong to vowels. Whe- 
ther the aspiration ought to be sounded before or 
after this letter is not agreed on ; reason and the cus- 
torn of the Cohans, who sometimes prefixed j. [the 
reader will remark, that this is our F. in a different 
position, or what amounts to the same, our F. is j. 
in a different position] and sometimes /3. before it 
makes for the former opinion ; and the use of the 
Latins who write rhamnus, rhetor, rhinoceros, rhom- 
bus, &c. may seem to countenance the latter. But, 
I observe, that in words of Greek extraction, the 
Latins often neglected this aspiration, as in radix, 
rigeo, rosa, and in other words at pleasure, either 
omitted or inserted it, as in raphanus and rhaphanus, 
romphaea or rhomphaea. The Hebrews gave this 
letter the right of a guttural, [it is primarily nothingbut 
a guttural,] and indeed this sound is formed in the upper 
part of the throat, but so vibrated by a quaver of the 
tongue and allision on the teeth, that it makes a sound 
like the grinning of a dog, [yet it is entitled, the t 



* This is like the other doctrines of the grammarians, mystical and 
unmeaning: they talk of vowels and consonants; of vowels bf : tig in- 
cluded in or essential to the consonants, without knowing what they say 
or whereof they affirm. If they mean that no letter can be pronounced 
without emitting sound, a child might well deride the information. 



70 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

author says, to the first place of all its sister liquids : 
grinning or grunting is no doubt a liquid sound,] 
whence it is called the canine letter : but the Ro- 
mans, on the contrary, gave it so soft and lisping,* a 
sound that in writing they sometimes omitted it, 
calling the Etrusci, Thusci or Tusci, [the reader 
will recollect the propositions : words constantly 
tend to contract : words constantly tend to be- 
come more smooth, &c] and especially before s. ; 
thus Ennius writ prosus, rusus, for prorsus, rursus : 
which is less to be wondered at, because the most 
ancient Latins doubled not their consonants, [this 
remark is true, but wholly irrelative and impertinent 
to the subject]. Yea, the sound of the lisped r. was 
so near that of its neighbour s. [if he must personify 
them, he should have said daughter or grand-daugh- 
ter, for s. like all the other letters, is merely a soi't- 
ened form of the guttural, or more accurately a dif- 
ferent form consociated with a softer and easier 
utterance], that they writ asa, casmen, Papysii, for 
ara, carmen, Papyrii ; and we find the termination os 
as well as or in good writers still, as particularly in 
the prince of poets, (of poetae minores,) arbos and 
honos frequently occur ; and labos, vapos, &c. in 
others. I But the soft sound of this letter is in no- 

# The author's understanding lisps about this matter; the reason of 
r.'s being dropped or changed into s. is not its softness but its harshness 
or difficult) of utterance: r. is never interposed to hinder the collision of 
two vowels, and we might as well suppose the grinning of a dog or bray- 
ing of an ass introduced lor the sake of euphony : f^af and vvo$ are con- 
tractions of murex and nurus, not the latter elongations of the former. 

t- It may appear to some as if arbos, honos, labos, vapos, actually pre- 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 7t 

thing more plain than its interposition, [false] to 
hinder the collision of two vowels, as if it had been 
little more than a breathing, as in murex, nurus, 
from ju-uaj, wo$ [false]. Though the grammarians call 
all the liquids immutables, they are often changed 
reciprocally into one another ; and to say nothing 
of the rest here, this has not only an intercourse 
with the sisterhood, but often with several of the 
mutes. First with her sister 1. as from puer, puera, 
puella ; so from xav&jxw^, is cantherius ; and as ceeiu- 
lius was anciently writ for caerulius, iso on the con- 
trary latiaris for latialis. With her sister m. the 
instances are more rare [they are not rare] ; but 
common enough with n. : for as from fa^ov and pwiW' 
are donum and plenus; so from ^vo§ and pwa, are 
merus and mora ; [false r. is softened into v. in all such 
words as ^vo^om, not vice versa ; but such philologers 

ceded arbor, honor, labor, vapor, and therefore -as if s. had changed into 
r. not r. into s. : but the fact, is simply this, (a fact which can be verified 
in the history of all dialects, and in none is it more evident than our own,) 
there had been for a considerable time two pronunciations, the smooth and 
the harsh, the new and the old j and before a standard of orthography 
was admitted, writers spelt differently, some following the conversational 
pronunciation of the fashionables, as the little poets, dramatists, novelists, 
&c. ; others spelt according to the more solemn and ancient pronuncia- 
tion. Proofs could be given of two pronunciations and spellings being 
co-existent in the same country for several centuries The enunciation of 
the Tuscans is much more harsh and guttural than that of the other 
Italians, and has been reasonably supposed to be a faint remnant of the 
ancient Etrurian, the oldest dialect of Latin. In the Etrurian and other 
ancient inscriptions, the terminations or, er, &c. are regularly found, 
which were afterward softened into us f es, -, hence the termination us, was 
originally or, &c. 



72 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. v 

as Ainsworth suppose that the Greek spelling must 
have been the parent of the Latin spelling]. In some 
words r. or n. are writ indifferently, as in aereus or 
aeneus. I will instance, as briefly as I can, the inter- 
course of this liquid [liquid he is determined it shall 
be] with some of the mutes [another intelligible race 
of grammatical beings] : with c, as paucos from *a.tys 
[hence poor] ; with d., corium from xcu&ov [£. is from 
p. not §. or r. from o., and that invariably] ; meridies 
from medidies; querquedula for querquerula; and 
anciently ar. in many [originally ar. or al. in all words ; 
ar. or al. existed long before ad.~\ words Was used for ad ; 
[incorrect, ad. is used for ar., butar. was never used 
for ad.~\ as in arlabi, arfinis, arversus, for adlabi, adfinis, 
adversus; withg., as from ct§vr, agna, so serere from 
seges, [very just]. This letter is used by poets in de- 
scribing motion, noise, indignation, or violence. " 

There is a strange mixture of truth and error, 
reasonableness and absurdity, in these quotations 
from the great Latin lexicographer; (and he was 
much better qualified for lexicography than our 
English Polyphemus) yet they were the most suit- 
able to my purpose that I could find. However, 
the reader will not regret that I have not introduced 
more of such quotations. 

1 begin to be tired of this minute and tedious mode 
of illustrating and proving, and shall conclude this 
part of my subject with as much brevity as possible. 
That R, L, C, &c. arc in reality but one character, 
appears, 1. from their form: r is -) reverted; "i is 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 73 

a contraction of *7, or a smaller size of the same 
letter ; ^ is a variety of D. r. is 'P. ; the aspirate or 
Hebrew t yod (a contraction of ">, a contraction of 3) 
being in the one case prefixed, in the other affixed : 
1. is a contraction of L., and L. is the Greek a-> the 
acute angle being changed into a rectangle, or what 
comes to the same, (for they are in reality but one 
letter, being both like the Hebrew -) and 7, resolv- 
able into 3 or C.) L. is r. turned upside down ; as 
F. is j. reverted and turned downside up. 2. They 
are primarily pronounced gutturally, and by the same 
organs of speech. Whoever chooses to attend to his 
own mouth, will find that there is hardly any percep- 
tible difference in the action and modification of the 
throat, tongue, &c. when pronouncing the 1., and 
when pronouncing the r. ; and the only difference 
from these in pronouncing C. G. ch, gh, h, (I mean 
their guttural sound) is that the tongue is more 
quiescent. 3. Children and persons of imperfect 
organs of speech frequently pronounce 1. for r., r. for 
1. ; and it is difficult frequently to discriminate the 
one from the other, in the rapid pronunciation of 
the most distinct speakers. 4. All the gutturals 
(that is C. G. q, h, &c. and r, 1,) frequently inter- 
change as we have seen in the preceding instances ; 
only let it be observed that 1. or r. (which I shall 
henceforth refer to as one letter) changes into C. G. 
&c. never C. or G. into 1. or r. This leads me, 
before dismissing this part of my subject, to take 
more particular notice of 1. and r. 



7 i PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

It has appeared above that L. in Welsh is of very 
difficult utterance, (so difficult that it is hardly pos- 
sible for a person not brought up in Wales to acquire 
it) and that there is a guttural breathing connected 
with it, as if it were lh. (or hi., for what Ainsworth 
says of the aspirate, either preceding or succeeding 
the Greek p . applies also to l. originally) ; that is 
two letters joined together, namely, CL, or LC ; (for 
h. is a variety of C.) or ^J, J 1 }. The peculiar diffi- 
cult enunciation referred to is expressed by 11. ; and 
the Spaniards have 11., the sound of which is the 
same as the Italian gli.* It has been also shown 
above (in the quotation from Ainsworth) that P. was 
always either preceded or succeeded by the aspirate ; 
as 'P. or rh. Thus in every respect 1. and r. have the 
same characteristics, and are therefore to be con- 
sidered as but one character ; and what I shall merely 
intimate, but not insist upon at present, that one 
character seems to have been originally a double 
sign, like S. or g., which is the most frequent substi- 
tute of R. or L. ; or like g. which though afterwards 
considered as equivalent to G., was no doubt origi- 
nally the double of it ; ^ appears to be ^ (that is 
a contracted 0) and 2 conjoined, thusl; but respect- 
ing this distinction of 7 into a compound it is not 
necessary to say more, as from a very early period it 

* Observe that the 1. of the Latin is frequently gl. in Italian; a fact 
Which I perceive no means of accounting for, but by supposing the latter 
mode a relic of the ancient Etrurian. Capitolium is in Italian Campidoglio; 
ille, egli, &c. 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 75 

seems to have been treated as equivalent, like g. to 
C. or 2; or rather the latter, though single, seems 
to have been considered as equivalent to the former, 
though double: thus CR, CL; or RC, LC ; (for 
the R. or L., though generally last is often first) or in 
Hebrew 7D, HD ; 27, 31 ; though strictly as a sign it 
be at least two half circles, (supposing 7 contracted 
into 1 not to be a compound or double sign) or one 
whole circle, (for two halves are equal to a whole) 
yet these two letters, if I ought to call them letters, 
very soon came to signify circularity or circle- likeness, 
in the widest possible sense, from the curve of the 
hand to the horizon ; though means were always 
employed to indicate as definitely as possible, what 
particular circular object was meant.* This brings 
me to the last proposition in the Canon of Etymology ; 
— that which comprehends all the preceeding — that 
which to intuitively-comprehensive minds will su- 
persede them all. 

18. The whole of written language, or that system 
of alphabetic signs, originally addressed to the eye, j- 

# The assertion of the stoics, though seemingly paradoxical, has more 
truth in it than appears at first sight, namely, that every word is in itself 
equivocal-, and hence all the mistiness of metaphysics, which cannot exist 
a moment out of the vacuo of abstraction. There was lately a German mist, 
and now there is a Scotch mist, which threatens to darken all the regions 
of intellect, but I hope soon to dispel it. 

f I have already intimated, in reference to the sentiment of Mr. Home 
Tooke : " There are two languages; a system of signs addressed to the 
eye, and a system of signs addressed to the ear ;" that there are hardly 
any words primarily addressed to the ear before the eye; but I wished to 
put my proposition into as incontrovertible a shape as possible. 



76 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

is resolvable into ")3, *?D ; or j 1 ?, D"1 : CR, CL; or 
LC, RC, &c. signifying round or roundlike. This 
is the foundation of what shall hereafter be called 
the New Philology. If this can be overturned, 
my system of language must fall, and therefore I 
show its opponents (if it shall be opposed) where 
to strike ; only, if they would not retire from the 
attack with disgrace, they must proceed with judg- 
ment; and must not rashly infer that because they 
cannot resolve all the parts of written language into 
such a simple origin, the above proposition is false. 
But that no one may, through misconception, enter 
upon useless controversy and verbosities,* let it be 
observed that there are many names given to objects, 
whose form (the form of the objects) is not round or 
roundish; and whose form was not contemplated in 
the imposition of their names; yet their names are 
after all resolvable into CR, &c, signifying round or 
roundish. Thus the sign of the hand, the eye, the 
ear, &c. was applied adjectively (and we have shown 
above that every word is primarily an adjective) to 
objects related to the hand, the eye, the ear, &c. ; 
which objects might not be circular: thus handle, 
haft, (or halft) a hold, or any thing whatever held or 
used by the hand, may be square instead of round, 

* I hesitated for some time, whether I should not leave Ihe eighteenth 
(I ought to apologize for giving 80 many) proposition wholly unsheltered by 
'explanation and proof, to invite attack, and draw on controversy; fori do 
not expect it to be generally admitted without resistance: hut on further 
reflection, it appeared unwise to induce war, which comes soon enough 
through all precaution! for peace. 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 77 

(though round or roundish is the general form) yet 
the name applied to it (or rather the adjective) is re- 
solvable into CR, or CL, &c, signifying a curve or 
circular object. So things to which the name of the 
mouth is applied, may have nothing curved in their 
shape ; as meat, (from mouth) and indeed no shape 
whatever ; as com-mand, (from mond or mouth ;) order, 
(or and der ;) verb, word, (vor-eb, wor-ed or gor-ed, 
cir-ed, &c). These instances are sufficient not only 
to illustrate the proposition : All written language is 
resolvable into CR, &c. ; but also to open to the 
mind of the reader the true nature of abstract terms, 
which have been so much talked of and so little 
understood. 

It would be superfluous to prove that such words 
as cornu, horn ; churn, (Scotch kirn ;) shore, girth, 
core, heart ; hora, hour, year ; wheel, while, yard, 
caelum, &c. are resolvable into circle, that is cr — cr, 
the primitive sign CR. being doubled ; but it can be 
made equally evident that all such words as cop, 
top, cap-ut, cope, cup, cave, &c. &c. are also re- 
solvable into CR, &c. I shall here transcribe part 
of the index of Etymologicon Magnum ; a work 
which I have twenty times attempted to read and 
twenty times laid down with deep regret: but what- 
ever I may think of the work as often mystical, I 
have great respect for the author, and would not if 
possible produce a painful feeling in the mind of one 
who has deserved so well of mankind. It gives me 
much pain to think that so much time and labour 



78 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

and so many thousand pounds have been thrown 
away rather than turned to any good account. Mr, 
Winter's friends have thought that he failed by aW 
tempting too much; but he did not attempt too 
much— he performed too little. Had he first of all 
studied himself into the true nature of alphabetic 
signs (if it had cost him twenty years' anxious thinks 
ing) he could not have lost himself in such a wilder- 
ness as Etymologicon Magnum. He was almost 
within sight of the proper starting post of etymologi- 
cal investigation, yet deviated far from the right way 

"And found no end in wandering mazes lost." 

This notice which I have been led unintentionally to 
take of the labours of Mr. Whiter diffuses a tender 
melancholy over my mind ; for in turning from them 
I have often said to myself with an involuntary sigh, 
what a poor fallible thing is the human understand- 
ing ! Perhaps after all this anxious thinking and 
toilsome enquiry I shall only make a book to lie on 
the same shelf, or to be thrown to the same heap, 
with Etymologicon Magnum. As for such etymolo- 
gers as Dr. Johnson, I never had any fellow-feeling 
with them ; but have had some difficulty in sup- 
pressing contempt for the race of beings that gave 
them applause for burying their native language un- 
der a cairn of learned lumber, consisting of absurd 
and false explanations, useless quotations and sense- 
less distinctions. Well might Mr. Whiter remark : 
" this word (Sabaoth) has been interpreted by the 






PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 79 

greatest etymologist of the age, (he must write ironi- 
cally, or simply mean the maker of the greatest dic- 
tionary of the age) the day of the Sabbath ; and it is 
somewhat curious that this anecdote of superlative 
ignorance (the whole Dictionary is a jumble of su- 
perlative ignorance, reproaching the English people 
with superlative ignorance of their own language) 
should afford me the only occasion in which I have 
thought it necessary to repeat on a point of etymo- 
logy the name of Dr. Johnson — a writer who has 
composed the most voluminous and celebrated Dic- 
tionary of the English language. Alas! such, gentle 
reader ', is the fate of our language and our literature." 

The obvious prevalence of the circular form in the 
objects to which words are applied, determined Mr. 
Whiter to begin with CB, CF, &c. (merely a va- 
riety of CR, CL, &c.) which he calls not improperly, 
the Element ; but he mis-explains the signification 
of this sign or element, when he says, it is to be 
hollow, to contain, comprehend. Had he said to be 
round, (which adjective comprehends both concave 
and convex, what is convex on one side being usually 
(always if hollow) concave on the other) he had ex- 
plained the sign CP, CF ; or CR, CL, correctly, as 
is evident from his own instances. 

CB, CF, is applied (says Mr. Whiter) to 

1. A Den or Cave, &c. 

2. The vault or Cope of heaven, (essentially the 
same word as Cope, hoop, &c). 

3. Garments or coverings for the person—the feet, 



80 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

4. Vessels for drinking, Cup. Enclosures for 
holding, carrying. 

5. Vessels for sailing on water, Ship, (he might 
have added skiff, &c). 

6. The hand (resolvable into Con, which is resolv- 
able into Cor, Col, x el §> &c«) and its actions. Carpus, 
Kruv, (Celt.) Gripe. 

To this belong words denoting force, strength, vio- 
lence, [because hand, arm, &c. were employed me- 
taphorically for power — as in Scripture, the hand 
of the Lord, the arm of the Lord — that is, power of 
the Lord,] or eagerness in holding, seizing, &c. 
Gripe. — Names of instruments, &c. held by the 
hand. — Terms of commerce or exchange in passing 
from hand to hand. [All this is philosophically just.] 
Words denoting a quick or rapid motion — the effect 
of diligence or violence. (Mystical — words denoting 
quick motion are taken from wind, wing, wheel, &c. 
as fleet horse, that is, flee-et or flee-ing horse ; hurry, 
from car or cir, properly a wheel ; hence celitus, 
celiter, &c). 

7. Offices of dignity (not well put in here : the 
names of offices of dignity or rather of all dignities, 
are cop, top, cape, caput, &c. applied metaphorically). 

8. Enclosures of rest, safety, &c. (rest, safety, &c. 
are secondary or accidental circumstances). Cabin : — 
the hollow of the Grave, (grave, a different spelling 
of grove, graff, greeve, &c. does not mean hollow but 
top, head, heap, cover, &c. or primarily simply round). 

9. The tisjmg swelling or rough protuberances of the 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 81 

person, as kibe, scab, &c. (It means simply round, 
or if taken in a secondary or more restricted sense, it 
means convex). 

10. Plants, fruits of a swelling cup-like form. 

1 1 . The making of a hollow or cavity. To scratch, 
grave (engrave), scrape, (softened into shave,) grub, 
&c. All probably derived originally from the Hand, 
(All derived immediately from the adjective carp or 
sharp; from which also come to crop, to reap con- 
traction of hreap, &c. ; as also carpenter, carpentry, 
&c. and all resolvable primarily into the adjective 
curve, sharp instruments being usually of that form, 
as scythes, sickles, swords, knives, &c.). 

12. Plenty, riches, desire as copia, cupio, &c. (copia, 
heap, &c. are resolvable into cop, cob, top, caput ; 
and hence capital, means great, excellent, &c. as rich, 
rank, rick, rock, &c. are merely varied spellings and 
applications of arch a^ij, &c. : cupio, cupidity, &c. 
are from mouth, still called gab in the Scotch dialect, 
resolvable into gar, gor, vor, for, &c). 

13. Names of animals distinguished by their eager 
and ravenous mode of taking their food or seizing 
their prey, as Gups r4, a vulture, &c. (Gups is a 
contraction of gulp, softened also into vulpes, vulture, 
&c. a proper name for voracious or devouring animals 
from de-vor-o ; vor, cir, gor, &c. we have showm to 
be mouth ; hence for, far-i, fat-us, contraction of fora- 
tus, verb, word, &c). 

14. Names for the Mouth, food, eating, drinking. 
Names for the Tongue, language, talk, &c. 

G 



8XJ PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

1,5. Names for the Head, top, eminence. 

16. Words expressing a quick, rapid motion. (Mr. 
Whiter ought to have known that quick and rapid 
are synonymous, though indeed the composition of 
those called good writers, is often rendered full and 
round to the eye, the mouth and the ear, by such 
tautologies and elegant expletives. Quick or rapid 
motion has been already shown to come not from 
hand but wing, wind, wheel and the like.) 

17. The name of Man or Woman. (What the 
author says of male and powers of virility is imper- 
tinent here. The name is simply that of the hand, 
for chap, vir, man, homin — (that is, geman, &c.) are 
all resolvable into Pp, man-us, %^, the hand ; as if we 
would say the hand-animal or handed animal, &c. : 
hence hand in English denotes a human being, though 
usually confined to one employed in manual labour.) 
Among the other forty-seven meanings given to hand 
in the Polyphemian Dictionary are the following: — 
" 36. Agent, person employed. — Swift. 37. Giver 
and receiver. — Tillotson. 38. An actor, a workman, 
a soldier. — Locke" My respect for Mr. Whiter will 
not allow me to make any remark on his conjecture 
respecting the origin of the element CB. or indeed 
any of his conjectures respecting the origins of any 
elements. I shall only run hastily over a few parts 
of his Index. 

BL. is a variety of CL. ; and therefore as he 
remarks, very properly, supplies the name, or ra- 
f.hur a name of the hand. — Any thing swelling 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 83 

out (or convex.) — The mouth, talk, &c. — An en- 
closure. 

CL. relates not to powers of verility, but is ap- 
plied to the organ of generation in both sexes ; and 
hence child, chit ; fili-us, foal ; veal, (originally the 
name of a calf) ; and many other words, or rather- va- 
rieties of the same word, denoting something young, 
little, &c. But it would not be proper to etymologise 
too much or too minutely on some words ; and for 
the sake of modest eyes and ears, I promise seldom 
or never to follow derivation, so far towards the con- 
fines of indelicacy as in the above instance ; into 
which I was unintentionally drawn by the misrepre- 
sentation of Mr. Whiter. 

CM, CR, &c. are not different elements, but varie- 
ties of the same sign. Fr. which he considers the 
element for fire, was first of all applied to the sun sol, 
from which is Cal-eo, Cand-eo, Can-eo ; the radical 
part of all these and many more are merely varieties. 

GN. which he says supplies the name of woman, 
being (though generally in a low, gross, or obscene 
way, as quean from cunn-us, cunio, to the first of 
which cunae is closely related), the name of a cavity, 
the hollow or cavity of the mouth, &c. is merely a 
variety of CL. 

GVL, GV. GL, BL. KL, VL. are well put to- 
gether, as merely varieties of the same sign, repre- 
senting or indicating the hand ; only let it be once 
more remarked, that they signify any curve. 

LM, LF, LP, LV. (and he might have given more 

G 2 



S4 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

varieties,) which he says supplies a race of words 
denoting the hand, and its actions is merely a variety 
of CL. or rather of LG., the L. being in the one case 
(the general order however) first, and in the other 
last : hence Haw, llofen, Welsh ; loof, Scotch, &c. 

KS, BS, as in kiss, buss, &c. are resolvable into 
gor, cor, vor, (contracted into os, or-is, &c.) from 
which, as we have seen, are for, fari, fatus, verb, 
word ; hence also jeer, as gibe is from gab, that is to 
mouth or mock. 

MN. which he says is an element signifying enclo- 
sure, as of the hand, &c. is merely a variety of the 
primary sign, denoting roundness or roundishness ; 
hence mons, mont-es, mount; mond, Sax. mouth, 
&c. ; as also fons, font-is, fount. 

As to MND, MNT, (and he should have added 
MN, or men,) which is, as he justly remarks, a ter- 
mination ; we shall consider it when we come to the 
terminations. 

R. Mr. Whiter remarks, (as Mr. Home Tooke 
and others had done before,) is oftentimes not to be 
considered as a part of the element. This is without 
exception the falsest proposition in all the writings 
of Mr. Home Tooke and Mr. Whiter, and would of 
itself have convinced me that they were but half- 
formed etymologers. 

Spr. which Mr. Whiter says is an element for the 
sky, (a softened sound of skir, skirig, skig, originally 
cir,) is merely like sphere a softened sound of cir. 

The names of the Sun and Moo?i, he says, (almost 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 8i 

truly,) are derived from the idea of an enclosure or 
circular fence. Their name signifies neither enclo- 
sure nor fence, but simply a circle ; yet there is a 
connexion between their name and that of an enclo- 
sure or fence, because an enclosure or fence surrounds 
or encircles. 

TB. which he says is the element of hollow, (as tub, 
&c.) like top, cop, cob, cup, tr, tor, cr, cir, cor, &c. 
(of all which it is only a variety) means simply round 
TR, TM, &c. are not different elements, but the 
same sign of anything round; hence it is properly 
applied to the earth, yn$ iu Chaldaic ark or arch; 
in some of the northern dialects yerd, yert ; in Greek 
Tt), a contraction of r^, r^, &c. ; in Latin terr-a. 

TR. to devour, is a variety of vor-o, from which is 
devor-o, devour, &c. 

Thus it appears how near Mr. Whiter was to the 
truth in every element, (as he has termed it,) above 
given. I am afraid, however, of tiring the reader 
with too much of that, whose proper place is a dic- 
tionary, only I wished to give a sufficient number of 
instances to prove how very easy and how very cer- 
tain true etymology is. I leave the Canon of Etymo- 
logy by subjoining a proposition that had escaped 
me ; namely, that r. or 1. (which we have considered 
as one letter,) from its difficulty of enunciation, 
(especially when it was pronounced gutturally,) and 
vibratory motion on the tongue, has shifted from its 
proper primary position in some words : thus Atlas, 
Atlantis, from Altas Altantis, a high hill in Mauri- 



86 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

tania ; Atlantic or Altantic, is properly an adjective 
from the former name, and as applied to the ocean 
means that part of it which lies towards or in the 
direction of Atlas or Altas. Metal is a corruption or 
mispronunciation (which drew a mispelling after it), 
of melt : metals are substances that have been or may- 
be melted; as gold, silver, copper, tin, iron and lead. 



( 87 ) 



PART III 



THE COMPONENT PARTS OF SPEECH UNFOLDED. 



xT has been sufficiently shown, I /trust, that C L. 
C R. L C. or R C. is the primary simple word of 
written language, and that all the cppice verborum are 
merely varieties and combinations of that one simr/le 
word, or rather sign. * It will be not expected that all 
the varieties and combinations of that simple word 
or sign, should be treated of or even noticed in this 
work. Only those simple words, more important in 
the system of speech with the manner of their com- 
binations, are intended to be explained here. I shall 
begin this subject with what have been termed par- 
tides, including the article, conjunction, preposition, 
pronoun, verbal, adjective and substantive termina- 
tions, and in short all affixes and prefixes. The dis- 
cussion of these component parts of speech shall be 
as much as possible strictly English; not excluding 



* The sign existed before the word: sign has reference to visible 
objects } word is so denominated because of its connexion with vor, cor, 
&c. the mouth; a sign is seen, a word is spoken. If the sign and word 
(that is, enunciation of the sign) be so well associated that the sound of 
the latter excites the idea of the former, the word is correct j if not, it is 
incorrect. 



88 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

such remarks, however, on other dialects as are likely 
to illustrate the subject ; for the reader will perceive, 
that what holds of English, applies equally to He- 
brew, Greek, Latin, &c. : true grammar is not local 
but universal — not peculiar to any one of the dialects, 
but common to them all. 

I have always found this the most difficult and 
perplexing part of philology, (it comprehends the 
whole of what is commonly called grammar, concern- 
ing which there has been so much mysticism and 
nonsense, and so little intelligibleness and rationality) 
and shall think myself fortunate if I can treat of it 
with tolerable clearness and precision. Particles are 
in truth the mummies of language, and it is almost 
impossible to ascertain their true nature and origin. 
It has been justly remarked by Home Tooke, " that 
words most frequently in use, are most subject to 
contraction and corruption." The article, conjunc- 
tion, preposition, pronoun and all the terminations 
are frequently in use, and therefore they are much 
corrupted from their original form : they have occa- 
sioned much mistake, mysticism and absurdity ; and 
I shall think myself abundantly rewarded for all my 
anxious reflection and toilsome enquiry, if successful 
in putting down a set of contemptible systems, tech- 
nical terms and mischievous arts, which have so long 
befooled and enslaved the disciples of learned autho- 
rity, and stunned the world with the noise of their 
pretensions. 

All the words now particularly in view, may be 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 89 

conveniently treated of under the following deno- 
minations : — 1. Connectives. 2. Augmentives. 3. 
Negatives. 4. Diminutives. 



CONNECTIVES. 

A connective word is like + plus, the sign of 
addition or of conjoining ; as 2 + 2 are 4 — two and 
two are four : — The word and (or one equivalent to 
it) is sometimes prefixed or postfixed to another 
word, but it retains the very same meaning it had 
when put separately. Thus, the Latin que (the 
same as *a<, eke, eek, ic, ig, &c.) is often put in com- 
position as a separate word, and often postfixed to 
another word ; but it has the same meaning or use in 
both positions : the conjunction and (spelt en in 
Dutch) which is often put separately, is as often 
joined to other words. What is called the participle * 
used to have and, ende, en, an, and some other slight 
varieties for its termination : as lovand man ; lovende 
man ; loven man ; that is, loving man, or love and 
man, or love add man, love eke man, love join man : 
golden watch, frosty night, misty doctrine. Here 
the y. which is a contraction of ic, eke, que, **'» &c. 
is merely + or vinculum between mist and doctrine, 
indicating that they are to be conjoined in the ima- 
gination, or conceived of together ; such also is the 
use of en, an, ende, and, eke, and all connectives. 

Observe, that the connective is frequently dropped. 



90 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

the connexion between the words being sufficiently 
indicated and understood by their position or construc- 
tion : thus, instead of golden watch, we write gold — 
watch or goldwatch. The same relation is denoted by 
the preposition of, as by the termination ic, y, en, &c. : 
golden watch, or watch of gold ; bloody man, man of 
blood, &c. have respectively the same meaning, only 
the one mode is not quite so customary or familiar 
as the other. Of was formerly og, oc, ac, &c. which 
are all merely various spellings of ac, eke, our ancient 
conjunction, and of etc, que, &c. the Latin conjunc- 
tion. The genitive or possessive (as it is called), 
and the plural termination of nouns is (for it is one 
and the same word), merely the connective or con- 
junction. Thus boy's book, is book of the boy, or 
book belonging to the boy ; so also in the plural, 
boys s. means merely -j- plus, or add. The gramma- 
rians knew not the nature of the plural number, but 
it means precisely what they have said — more than 
one ; for as a, ane, an, or one, preceding or succeeding 
a noun, prefixed or postfixed to it, (for it has been 
put in all these different manners ; we say a pen, the 
Latins said penna — we say a, or one measure, the 
Greeks said f*er§ov, the Latins metrum, &c. for all 
the Greek and Latin terminations are thus easily ac- 
counted for,) indicates that there is but one of the 
kind intended ; so es (or any equivalent affix), that 
is, -f plus must as infallibly indicate that more than 
one is intended, which is precisely the meaning of the 
plural termination. Observe, when our plural ter- 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 91 

mi nation was er, our genitive termination was also 
er ; when the one became en the other became en : as 
oxen (of ox or ox's), oxen the plural ; which, if formed 
like other nouns would be ox's, oxes. The only dif- 
ference between the genitive and the plural is the 
comma put as a sign of contraction ; for formerly it 
would have been oxis or oxes in both genitive and 
plural, as farther back it was oxen in both, and still 
higher up oxer in both. The apostrophe or sign of 
contraction affixed to the genitive and not to the 
plural is capricious rather than reasonable, c. being 
nearly as often dropped in the one case as the other. 
As was observed in a preceding part, we have a few 
double terminations or relics of both er and en in the 
same word, the latter not superseding the former but 
being joined with it : as children, western, eastern, &c. 

As our genitive and plural terminations have ever 
been the same, so also have been the Latin : pennae, 
is of a pen or pens ; domini, is of a lord or lords ; ser- 
monis or sermones, (for it was spelt both ways) is of 
a speech or speeches ; or if we give the word in the 
English manner, sermon's and sermons. Here the 
reader will perceive again, that there is the same rea- 
son for putting the apostrophe or sign of contraction 
in both cases. The coincidence above noticed might 
be traced in Greek, German arid other dialects, 
though it be somewhat disguised in them by such 
accidental variety as all language is subject to. 

I had intended to treat of connectives more tediously 
than is suitable to my inclination, and therefore I 



92 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

remark at once, that the definite article, (as it is 
called) all the pronouns, the prepositions at, ad, to, 
with, by ; the substantive verb be, am, and eth, th, t, 
ed, en, an, on, &c. whether postfixed or prefixed to 
words and whatever they be called — verbs, partici- 
ples, adjectives, nouns, &c. ; and the adverbial ter- 
mination ly, (as it is called) &c. are merely connec- 
tives, or more properly varieties of the connective or 
copula ; for one was as sufficient for the purpose as a 
thousand, though it has been multiplied into a great 
variety of forms of spelling and pronunciation, which 
like the variety of guises and disguises in the theatre, 
deceive the eyes of spectators. 

I have put the definite article first in the foregoing 
list of connectives, and I shall introduce it by a 
quotation from Dr. Crombie's English Grammar, be- 
cause it professes to follow the principles of Home 
Tooke, and because it is the most philosophic hi- 
therto published : I am sorry to add that it is exceed- 
ingly unphilosophic. When I noticed the author in 
my introduction, (which notice is now printed,) I had 
only looked into his grammatical work and thought it 
very different from what I have found it on closer 
inspection. The truth is simply this, as I have a 
settled indignant contempt of false learning and phi- 
losophy, and as I always give the plainest and 
strongest words to my thoughts and sensations, I 
can find I was afraid to trust myself with strictures 
on such grammarians as Lindley Murray, and pitched 
upon the author of the Essay on Philosophical Ne- 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 93 

cessity as a philosophic scholar, whose understanding 
I should respect though I did not stand in awe of his 
talents. Afraid of being thought illiberal in speaking 
my thoughts of arbitrary grammar, I wished to find 
a foil to my candour in an author so rationally and 
masterly wrong, as to command my praise more than 
blame. In this respect I am unfortunate, especially 
as the cant of candour and bigotry of liberality are 
the standing order of the present times. Still, how- 
ever, I can assure Dr. Crombie, that it is with sincere 
regret I contradict his doctrines ; that I would rather 
have him for ally than opponent, and that he is 
almost the only English grammarian whose opinions 
I should deem worth quoting or confuting. I remark 
before returning to my subject, that Dr. Crombie 
seems to have misunderstood Home Tooke's remarks 
in reference to Harris : that author's opinions are 
abundantly unreasonable ; but the unreasonableness 
of them consists not in affirming that some words are 
merely links or joints of language, but in denying 
that they are primarily significant ; or that connec- 
tive terminations were ever separate words with a 
meaning of their own ; and so far from contradicting 
Harris's doctrine respecting conjunctions and prepo- 
sitions in the manner of Dr. Crombie, Home Tooke 
considers prepositions, pronouns and conjunctions 
as of the same nature, and shows that the termina- 
tions of the simple adjectives mean add or join. In 
some respects, indeed, unaccountable as it is, Home 
Tooke seems to have been as far wrong and as much 



94 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

bewildered as Harris ; but as usually happens in such 
cases, Mr. Home Tooke never goes wrong but, Dr. 
Crombie is sure to go after him : — But to the sub- 
ject. 

" What then, (says Dr. Crombie,) is the difference 
between the and that?" Simply this — that is a con- 
traction of the — the and therefore, as he justly re- 
marks, that is more emphatic than the, for a word 
repeated or pronounced twice is intended to be more 
emphatic, or to excite more attention than when 
pronounced but once; just as a word pronounced 
slowly and with force, is more emphatic than when 
pronounced rapidly or slightly, and hence the sole 
difference between an and a?ie, or one. 

" In Latin, (continues the author,) ille frequently 
supplies the place of our definite article : s Thou art 
the man.' Tu es ille (iste) homo." 

" The le in French is clearly a derivative from ille, 
of which the former syllable il expresses he, and the 
latter denotes that unemphatically serving as the de- 
finite article. From the same source also proceed 
the Italian articles il, lo, la." 

" This and that I have already considered. That 
they are not pronouns is evident, because the pro- 
noun always stands by itself, (did it always stand 
by itself?) and supplies the place of a noun ; these 
words, on the contrary, must be associated with 
some substantive 4 , and cannot therefore be strictly 
pronouns. It is true, indeed, that they sometimes 
appear singly or unaccompanied with a noun ; (just 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 95 

as what are called pronouns appear singly or unac- 
companied with a noun,) but in these cases it will 
be found invariably that the expression is elliptical, 
some substantive or other being understood." 

The above is as favourable a specimen of the au- 
thor's grammatical reasoning as could be selected, 
yet it is merely that idle kind of controversy and 
verbosity which only serves to fill up a book — giving 
the writer an appearance of profound learning and 
keeping the reader ignorant of the subject. It is im- 
proper, it seems, to call this or that a pronoun : what 
then — what is a pronoun P It is a word supplying 
the place of a noun : very good — but how did it come 
to supply the place of a noun ? Tell me that and be 
my Apollo for ever. This belongs to a class of ques- 
tions, that Dr. Crombie like Mr. Home Tooke never 
thought of putting, or if he put them to himself he 
prudently kept them by him in his closet as private 
companions. The author was actually stumbling 
over the truth, yet as is common in such cases was 
all the while overlooking it. As he found out that 
the expression is elliptical, some substantive or other 
being necessarily understood when that and this ap- 
pear singly or unaccompanied with a noun, why 
could he not perceive that the same is the case with 
pronouns P They were originally called pronouns, 
not because they stood for but fore nouns ; and they 
were originally as uniformly accompanied by nouns 
as this and that are. 

No one can have carefully traced the pronouns in 



96 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

any dialect, without perceiving that they are often, 
and were originally, always, accompanied by nouns. 
We have in our own language, especially in legal 
writing, sufficient relics of ancient usage to explain 
and prove the fact in question : thus the following 
modes of expression are according to original usage : 
I, James Gilchrist, differ from thee, Dr. Crombie ; 
he, Mr. Home Tooke or Mr. Home Tooke, he (we 
have yet both modes in vulgar usage — a much better 
guide in philology than reputable and present usage), 
was an acute philologer, but he did not see to the 
bottom of his subject : he, Dr. Reid, was a true phi- 
losopher, though author of an untrue philosophy ; 
but thou, Dugald Stewart, canst not see clearly or 
enter profoundly into true theories ; ye Scotch me- 
taphysicians, like your cousins they, them, these, or 
the (we have had all these and more spellings of the 
same word) German metaphysicians have discovered 
that the true theory of the soul is best defended in a 
mist or in the dark. 

The truth is, all the articles, all the personal, rela- 
tive and demonstrative pronouns in all the dialects 
arc merely connectives ; and what is more, they are 
merely varied spellings and pronunciations of the 
same word, applied for the same purpose. I am not 
speaking of the use, custom may have given to what 
are called pronouns ; — I am not denying that the 
diversity of spelling and pronunciation which gives 
to one word the effect of several, is a great conveni- 
ency — I am treating of the proper primary character 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 97 

of words. I, thou, he, she, it, we, ye, they, who, or 
which, (one of these is superfluous) that, &c. are all 
useful words, — happy abbreviations (which have 
usually all the excellencies and defects of contrac- 
tions or short-hand characters) ; but it does not 
follow that they are not primarily one and the same 
word, applied for one and the same purpose. 

In Ze Maitre It alien Par le Sieur De Veneroni, 
I find the following remark, which shows how near 
to the true idea of pronouns the author was, or those 
from whom he borrowed : — " Le pronoms conjonctifs 
ont beaucoup de rapport aux pronoms personels." 
The conjunctive pronouns are nearly related to per- 
sonal pronouns. The terms relative and conjunctive 
seem to have originated in just conception. 

Prepositions have been referred to, and the fol- 
lowing are merely connective ; with, formerly mith, 
mid, med, &c. (and the same as ^t« 9 p6'» py> men, 
ment,) of, to, by, be, (formerly ge,) ad, at, (a softened 
form of jltf ath, eth, &c.) col, con, and some other 
forms of the same word. It is true, that some of 
these forms seem strange to our eyes and ears, when 
employed where we have been accustomed to others ; 
but none save asses are led by the ears — none but 
fopls adore custom or usage. Such great rhetoricians 
as Dr. Blair, have discovered nice distinctions among 
the prepositions, and published wonderful criticisms 
about, by a sword and with a sword : but with rever- 
ence be it spoken, by a sword is just by a sword, and 
with a sword is just the same as by a sword. 

H 



93 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

It is unworthy of Dr. Crombie's understanding to 
give into the silly, false doctrine of tradition con- 
cerning synonimes ; or to remark that " the and that, 
though not strictly synonymous are words nearly of 
the same import" They are strictly synonymous — 
they are precisely of the same import. He may in- 
deed try his dexterity at splitting hairs to make a 
difference where none exists, as he does with my 
and mine, thy and thine; but after all, there is not a 
shade or shadow (and fine thinkers deal much in 
shades and shadows of meaning), of difference be- 
tween the one and the other. The opinion of Blair 
(and indeed of all the philological multitude), that 
there are hardly any two words in any one language 
strictly synonymous, is not only false and absurd, but 
the occasion of much vacuous, indefinite, false and 
absurd composition. Arbitrary distinctions among 
words only serve to encrease and perpetuate their 
imposture. Our language would be no loser but a 
great gainer, if only one connective were left in it out 
of the many which now exist under various names : 
but what would become of copiousness, variety, 
smoothness, harmony, and all the other idols of bab- 
bling mouths and foolish ears ? 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 99 



THE VERBAL TERMINATIONS ARE MERELY 
CONNECTIVE. 

There is strictly but one verbal termination, though 
it be diversified by various spelling and pronuncia- 
tion : ath, (the very same as the Hebrew riK ath,) 
aith, eth, or ith, &c. was the older form, which be- 
came ed, et, es, est, an, en, &c. ; en (which is now 
in Dutch the conjunction answering to our and) is 
still connected with many words ; as seen, known, 
&c. in what is called the past participle : it is also 
firmly grafted into many words, as brighten, lighten, 
drown, &c. ; nay, it is both prefixed and postfixed to 
some words, as enlighten, enliven. The reader will 
perceive in these instances how liable words are to 
be used superfluously and insignificantly : in enliven 
the connective is put twice ; in enliveneth it is put 
thrice ; in enlivenedst it is put four times. 

At one time eth was the only termination after all 
the pronouns without any distinction ; as I loveth, 
or me loveth, (for both were used,) thou or thee loveth, 
he or him loveth, we loveth, ye loveth, they or them 
loveth. So late as the time of Chaucer this was the 
prevailing manner: — " Goeth now away ye mer- 
maidens and sufTereth this man to be heled of my 
muses/' " But nevertheless suffiseth to the (thee), 
these true conclusions in Englishe as well as suffiseth 

H.2 



100 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

to these noble clerkes grekes, these same conclusions 
in Greke." " God save the kinge, and all that him 
faith beareth and obeieth." " Demith thyself that 
demist othiris dede." " Weivith thy lust and let 
thy ghost the lede." " The nedith not the gall of an 
hine, that curith eyin darke for theyr penaunce." 
" And now mee likith to withdrawin me." " Me 
thinkith it accordaunt reason."— Chaucer. 

These are a few of many quotations that might 
be brought from Chaucer and even later authors. 
Methinks, methinketh, thee thinks, they thinks, and 
similar expressions which still remain among the 
peasantry, and some of the quakers who adhere more 
tenaciously to the customs of their ancestors, are not 
solecisms as shallow philologers suppose, but relics of 
what was classic as well as vulgar usage — relics of what 
was once national, reputable and present usage. I 
shall have occasion to remark further on this, when 
I come to modern, arbitrary grammar ; in the mean 
time the reader will observe, that eth was originally af- 
fixed to all the persons of the verb, (as they are called,) 
without distinction ; and that the whole system ofEn- 
glish syntax isfoundedon corruption and absurdity: it 
is a kind of grammatical idolatry instituted for the sake 
of est and eth or es, two relics of ancient usage. It is 
always a certain sign of idolatry or of a Babel-system, 
when the tongues of those employed about it are di- 
vided. There has been wonderful gibbering about 
the wonders of the verb ; and among the rest Dr. 
< !rombie is seriously alarmed lesl this important part 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 101 

of speech be degraded from its true dignity into a 
mere participle. 

It would be superfluous to explain eth to the in- 
telligent reader ; he must perceive that like en, ed, es, 
it is merely a connective whether affixed to what is 
called a verb, an adjective, a noun, or any word what- 
ever ; and it would be easy to convince him that, this 
is the primary use of all verbal terminations in all the 
dialects. It has been the fashion of late, indeed, with 
some Greek and Latin grammarians, to consider them 
as primarily pronouns : in this they are nearer the 
truth than themselves are aware of, (for eth however 
diversified, is originally the same as what are called 
pronouns,) yet it is not as they mean it. Home 
Tooke seems to have considered th, do and to as the 
same word, but what he considered do he did not 
communicate. In Hebrew Htf ath, the grammarians 
say truly, " seldom admits of translation into English 
after an active verb, (nor does the verbal termination 
eth in English, admit of translation into any other 
language) : when prefixed to a person it commonly 
signifies with" Wilson's Hebrew Grammar. — This 
is always its signification when it has any significa- 
tion, whether it be called a preposition, as ad, at; 
or a conjunction, as and, ei ; a termination as in 
amat, amat-us, amans, amant-is, &c. The reader 
must be now convinced that verbal, participial and 
simple adjective terminations, (those which do not 
denote negation, diminution or augmentation,) are all 
alike merely connective, and in fact the same copula, 



102 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

somewhat varied in its form by the accidents of pro- 
nunciation and spelling. 



WHAT IS CALLED THE SUBSTANTIVE VERB IS 
MERELY A CONJUNCTION. 

It is surprising (or rather a proof of their stupidity), 
that with the word copula in their mouth, the gram- 
marians should make what they call the substantive 
verb, the everlasting theme of mysticism, vacuous 
unintelligibleness and sheer nonsense. It implies 
an attribute and time, or affirmation, or something ; 
but they must be always talking about it and about 
it, without stopping to ascertain the meaning of those 
technical terms which are familiar in their mouths as 
household words, or learned language in the mouth 
of a magpie. 

Be is precisely the same as by, signifying merely + 
or add, join, &c. : thus, Kant be a mystic, and mys- 
tical Kant, convey the same meaning though not in 
the same manner. There is as much affirmation in 
the one case as in the other : be is the copula between 
Kant and mystic in the first instance, and al in the 
second. The compositions of Dugald Stewart are 
vacuously indefinite, and would never have been 
read but for their prettiness. The vacuous, indefinite 
compositions of Dugald Stewart would never have 
been read but for their prettiness. The writings of 
Dugald Stewart are not sufficiently correct and defi- 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 103 

nite for philosophy, and can never establish any 
theory of mind. — The writings of Dugald Stewart not 
sufficiently correct and definite for philosophy, can 
never establish any theory of mind. It is evident 
that these different sentences express respectively 
the same sense, whatever technical nonsense shallow 
philologers may affirm concerning them. 

The reader will perceive, that according to the 
Canon of Etymology, am and is are to be resolved into 
are ; he will also perceive that are is the same as the 
infinitive termination in Latin are, ere, ire, &c. ; and 
the termination or, arts, &c. in what are called pas- 
sive and deponent verbs ; and the adjective termina- 
tion aris or alis, (for according to the Canon of Ety- 
mology, these two are to be considered as one ter- 
mination) ; and the termination of nouns as amor, 
&c. : it also appears as an English termination, as 
easter, that is east (or rising) + time, tide, &c. ; 
baker, brewer; that is, brew + man, woman, or 
person. It has become an opinion with some gram- 
marians, that the termination er, ir, or, &c. is a 
contraction of vir, but this, like most other "boasted 
discoveries in philology is a mere fancy. 



104 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 



THE TERMINATIONS OF WHAT ARE CALLED AB- 
STRACT NOUNS ENDING IN ETH, EN, ON, &C, 
ARE MERELY CONNECTIVE. 

It will be readily admitted that once, twice, thrice, 
fourth, fifth, are contractions or softened forms of 
oneic (in French, unique) twoic, threeic,foureth ; and 
that ic, or eth, is primarily and properly a conjunc- 
tive ; for though it is frequently not followed by 
any other word, the sentence is in every such case 
elliptical : once is equivalent to one eke time, twice to 
two eke time, fourth to four and time, or four add 
time : first, second, third always suppose what is to 
be added, understood ; as, first man, that is, fore est 
man, third man, that is, three ed, or add man. Ob- 
serve that nouns ending in ist, ism, are exactly like 
first : florist, or flowerist — flor add person : Arian- 
ism, that is Arian, join system, creed, or some equi- 
valent word which is understood though not ex- 
pressed, and which must be inserted to fill up the 
ellipsis. The reader will perceive here both the true 
nature of abstract nouns, as they are absurdly called, 
and the identity of ist, ism, and est, the third person 
singular or the Latin copula, and the second person 
singular of our own verb. As oculist, dentist, &c. 
are like first ; so like fourth, fifth, &c. are width, 
(wideeth) breadth, length, truth, (trueeth, so trust 
is (nicest) stealth, wealth, &c. 

The reader will perceive the utility of the cxpla- 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 105 

nation above given in dissipating the intellectual 
mistiness and removing the cobwebs which metaphy- 
sical spiders extract from what they call abstract 
terms. These cobwebs entangle insect understand- 
ings like their own, that delight in dusty, dark cor- 
ners, or to prey on the carcases of Grecian and Ro- 
man learning ; but true philology will be found 
very convenient for brushing the vermin out from 
the temple of science and abodes of philosophy. 
My business, however, in the present work is to es- 
tablish true philology, not to apply it to practical 
purposes — to make the instrument, not to experiment 
with it on the misty, vacuous, senseless composi- 
tions that have so long imposed on the world as pro- 
found abstract reasonings. 

It is difficult to conjecture how so acute a philo- 
loger as Horne Tooke did not obtain a clearer view 
of abstract nouns. He absurdly enough resolved 
them all into past participles, though he was seem- 
ingly ignorant of their nature ; for if he does not 
wrap them up in mystery he renders them pretty 
complicated. He says that head and heaven are 
the past participle of heave ; but what heave was, 
he seems not to have enquired. He puts that first 
which was last, for instead of head coming from 
heave, heave comes from cap, cop, &c. : heaven is 
merely an adjective signifying round, as it does in 
hoop, cave, cove, cup, cope, &c. and the connec- 
tive en affixed to it ; caput is cap (signifying round) 
and et affixed. 



106 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

s 

The reader cannot be too much on his guard with 
the whole race of words having a conjunctive ter- 
mination and put elliptically ; for there are no such 
verbal deceivers as they are. The mummies of ele- 
gant expletives — the relics of significancy — the 
shades or ghosts of meaning require to be sharply 
looked after, especially in the calendar of the mys- 
tagogues and sophists ; but most of all do abstract 
nouns require to be stopped and questioned on every 
appearance, for they are like other pompous, stately 
personages, exceedingly imposing ; and if you allow 
them the privilege (which Dugald Stewart pleads 
for) of being thought good, well-meaning members of 
composition, though utterly insignificant, they will 
play all sorts of tricks with your understanding : they 
will not only put it in a fool's paradise, but lock it 
up in a vacuum. 

I have now sufficiently explained the connectives 
and shall only make a few remarks on the termina- 
tion ly which so often occurs. Mr. Home Tooke 
has contented himself with saying that ly is a con- 
traction of like, but what like is he has not attempted 
to explain. There is indeed a connexion between 
them as we shall presently find ; but like does not 
suggest the true idea or origin of the word, nor can 
ly be resolved into like with any show of reasonable- 
ness nine times out of ten where it occurs. Weekly 
wages, daily labour, yearly income, are not wages 
like or resembling a week, labour like a day, or in- 
come like a year, for there can be no likeness or re- 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 107 

semblance in the case ; but wages connected with a 
week, labour connected with day, income connected 
with year. Such instances as the following show 
that ly has the same use as other conjunctive termi- 
nations : a friendly part — a friend's part — the part of 
a friend ; yearly produce — year's produce — produce 
of a year — annual produce. The same word is spelt 
long in such words as endlong, sidelong ; that is, side 
join something else ; as sidelong looks ; it is the ter- 
mination of some nouns which are considered ab- 
stract ; as folly, that is, foolly ; knowledge : the 
same word appears in belong, and formerly long was , 
used both as a preposition and verb. It is the very 
same word as lig-o, link, latch, lace, lock, lash : 
belong is mispelt into fellow, an ally, (ad-lig-o) an 
equal, a peer, one like another, because things or 
persons resembling each other are usually conjoined; 
hence the felloe of a wheel is so denominated being 
considered as joined with the other parts of the cir- 
cumference ; to fellow is to suit with or pair with : 
hence the reason of like, for the idea suggested by 
this and all such words as peer, par, pair, match, 
equal, even, is taken from that of joining or coup- 
ling. The reader will perceive too why likewise, also, 
als, signify adding or joining. Thus, the Greek 
grammarians were wrong, and the Latin grammarians 
were wrong — the Greek grammarians were wrong, 
the Latin grammarians were also wrong — the Greek 
grammarians were wrong, the Latin grammarians were 
likewise wrong. Here and, also, likewise, have the 



108 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

same use, serving merely as vinculum, copula, link, 
or 4- between Greek grammarians and Latin gram- 
marians. The reader will perceive likewise why as 
(a contraction of als, a contraction of elk, alike, &c.) 
and like have the same meaning : thus, the Scotch 
metaphysics as the German metaphysics are full of 
vacuous and indefinite phraseology — the Scotch like 
the German metaphysics are full of vacuous and in- 
definite phraseology. 

My remarks are insensibly becoming more prolix 
than I intended, but I wish to convince the reader 
that I am not obliged to confine myself to a few in- 
stances most favourable to my purpose ; and that 
there is not a single word, syllable, letter, jot or tit- 
tle connected with my subject, which I cannot fully 
account for and satisfactorily explain. It is evidently 
necessary, however, to write a dictionary fully to 
reduce the chaos of our language, (cursed and con- 
founded by learned ignorance into a wilderness of 
confusion and Babel of absurdity) to light and sim- 
plicity, order and utility. 

Is there any thing more to be explained respecting 
connectives ? Yes, one thing more : What are 
they ? How did are, ale, eke, ic, eth, en, and, add, 
&c. come to signify join, add, &c. ? This is a fair 
question, but somewhat difficult ; and perhaps some 
nailers thought the author was going to give it the. 
slip ; but lie hopes to convince them before he has 
done, that he has no occasion for the stratagems of 
authorship. I do not wonder indeed that the multi- 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 109 

tude say language is arbitrary ; that those who pro- 
fess to study it give ingenious fancies for the reasons 
of words ; and that Home Tooke resolved them into 
nouns and verbs and there left them. What he did 
was comparatively easy ; what ought to be done is 
very difficult, at least m the present chaotic state of 
philology. I have remarked that particles compre- 
hending articles, pronouns, conjunctions, preposi- 
tions, and all the usual prefixes and postfixes are the 
mummies of language : the idea of which they were 
the sign (which may be considered the soul) is de- 
parted, leaving only elegant expletives and relics, 
shades or ghosts of meaning very- subservient to mys- 
tical and mythological systems of grammar, rhetoric, 
and logic : — precious materials for Kant and Dugald 
Stewart. Even the original, perspicuous, and defi- 
nite Mr. Locke (who did not think for a long time 
that any consideration of language was at all neces- 
sary to his subject) was somewhat too fond of par- 
ticles ; and he remarks that, "In the right hand- 
ling, managing and placing of them greatly consisteth 
the art of composition." In the right understanding 
of them greatly consisteth the art of thinking ; but I 
wish they could be so handled and managed as to 
be placed somewhere out of the way, even though 
they be important as serving to denote stops, stands, 
turns, &c. of the understanding. 

This topic is exceedingly important and will re- 
quire to be treated of both seriously and ludicrously 
before it be well understood, but it would take me 



110 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

too far from my immediate purpose. The reason 
why there are so many useless or idle words (which 
are exactly like idle members of a family or commu- 
nity), is abundantly plain. The same word (espe- 
cially if there be no standard of pronouncing and 
spelling^ is pronounced and spelt differently by dif- 
ferent persons (especially if they be widely apart, as 
in Yorkshire and Devonshire) ; which different spel- 
lings and pronunciations are mistaken for different 
words ; as ignorant spectators in the theatre deceived 
by the guises and disguises of the actors mistake one 
person for several — a few performers for a great mul- 
titude. This is the great ever-teeming origin ,of 
copicB verborum ; though persons too dull or too idle 
to understand the subject cannot, or will not, per- 
ceive how great an evil many words is ; and boast 
of their copiae verborum, as if a person diseased with 
gout or dropsy boasted of his great joints or big belly. 
It is with superfluous words as with all other super- 
fluities, or luxuries : men first get used to them, 
then think them necessaries, and last of all, boast 
of them as excellencies, though they be the bane 
of all that is excellent. Another cause of superfluous 
words (or forms of the same word) is the following : 
When a word has, through carelessness and ignorance,, 
become insignificant, (like the materials of Dugald 
Stewart's composition and philosophy) men have re- 
course to another word which is significant and in- 
telligible ; just as when we find that we cannot be 
understood by one mode of expression we employ 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. Ill 

another. This is all very proper ; and if when men 
found it necessary to adopt another word (or form of 
it) they had thrown the other away (as they usually 
do with old worn-out useless instruments) all would 
have been well; but they could not think of parting 
with it, and kept it as an elegant expletive, or par- 
ticle, which though insignificant itself, could, as 
Dugald Stewart proves, infuse significancy into com- 
position : their eyes and ears had been accustomed 
to the old worn-out sign ; and men have always 
judged more by custom than reason — by their eyes 
and ears than by their understanding. It is precisely 
with alphabetic signs as it was with their parent 
hieroglyphics : these were originally subservient to 
intelligence ; but in process of time becoming insig- 
nificant and unintelligible (especially in the hand- 
ling and managing of the mystagogues — the heredi- 
tary metaphysicians of the human race), they were 
found very subservient to mystery and imposture. 
Behold, reader, the true origin of the Egyptian, Gre- 
cian, Roman, middle-age and latter-age metaphy- 
sics ! Behold the true Babel with its fatal curse and 
much of our woe ! 

The preceding remarks show not only the true 
cause of much ignorance respecting language, but 
the difficulty of ascertaining the true nature and ori- 
gin of particles, by which I mean small parts or 
fragments of words. The conjunctives considered 
as meaning + plus, more, add, &c. are nearly al- 
lied to augmentives ; for joining and encreasing are 



112 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

inseparable ideas : hence eke, or cek, signifies to join 
or to encrease ; — it has been employed both as a verb 
and conjunction. After much doubting and reflect- 
ing (for the true origin of the conjunction has cost 
me much trouble), I am almost of opinion that all 
the conjunctions are resolvable into augmentives ; 
which again, are resolvable into the original name 
of head. Eke, ic, ig, que, xa<, &c. for instance, 
are resolvable into augeo, which is resolvable into 
agXV (hence orig-o, origin) which, like arch, re, lc, 
cl, cr, signifies primarily, simply round or circular. 
This opinion is not demonstrable, because there are 
different methods of indicating the same meaning, 
but it will gain strength from examining the nature 
of the augmentive. 

There are, however, two rival probabilities (be- 
sides their being resolvable into augmentives) re- 
specting the connectives ;* which I will endeavour 
to present to the mind of the reader as they have ap- 
peared to my own. Such words as joint, join, jungo, 
&c. may be resolved into jug-um, yoke, which may 
be considered like hook, hinge, &c. so denominated 
from its round or circular form ; which takes us at 



* The notion of Mr. Whiter respecting such words as those now in 
question being resolvable into the name of the hand, does not appear very 
plausible ; for the hand is as often employed to separate as to unite. It 
is true, however, that the hand denotes nearness: Am I a Gad at hand 
and not a God afar off? 1 have no money at hand : and in all such expres- 
sions hand denotes nearness but not conjunction : such words as here, 
near, &c. are resolvable into X sl S* 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 113 

once to the primitive etymon of all words : link (a 
different form of ring) which may be considered as 
originating lig-o ; lock, &c. may be also viewed in 
the same light : so may article, or articulus (arth, or 
arc-culus, properly little joint) a joint ; or as a verb 
to article, or be articled — to join, or be joined. It 
may be remarked in passing, that the (or similar 
words) was justly termed the article, for as we have 
seen it is merely a joint, or link. 

The other rival probability is as follows : The idea 
of one seems to have originated that of wilting or join- 
ing, because if two or more objects be put together 
they make one body, mass or group : thus if two 
families be joined they become one — if two mixable 
substances be united they become to the eye strictly 
one ; hence such expressions as to one, at one, union, 
unite. On the other hand the expression of disjunc- 
tion seems to have originated in the idea of two (it 
certainly did so in some instances) : thus sunder 
meant two, and it came to mean to separate, to di- 
vide : divide seems to be literally duo-csed — cut 
atwo, or cut in two ; and it will be proper to enquire 
when we come to the negatives whether they did not 
(most of them at least) originate in duo changed into 
de, di, se, ne, in, un, &c. Twain and twin are not 
used as verbs in modern English to express separa- 
tion, but they are so used in the North : as, " The 
lowland of Holland has twinned or twained my love 
and me." Between (be two en) is likewise employed 
to denote separation. The following expression is 






114 PHILOSOPHIC' ETYMOLOGY. 

not customary, but I believe it would be intelligible 
to those whose reading has not been confined wholly 
to modern English : The peace has oned many that 
the war had twained or twinned : it is indeed merely 
the true English manner of saying, the peace has 
united many that the war had divided. 

If the connectives have the above origin, then ath, 
eth, &c. is resolvable into achd (Heb. and Ethiop. 
for one) ; in confirmation of which ichd is, united, or 
as explained by Buxtorf, adunatus fuit — una, simul. 
The connexion between km, que, eek, eke, ic, ego, 
&c. and achd, ichd, seems plain enough ; but it 
is more plain when the following forms of the nume- 
ral one are taken into view : Eek (Pers. of which 
our ace seems a variety) ek (Hindoo) yek (Gipsey 
dialect): the first of these is literatim our verb and 
old conjunction eek. If our odd* be what it seems 
a contraction of achd, then it is not only the 
same as ad, at, eth, (sometimes ot, otli) but the same 
as add contracted into and. The Saxon verb Anan 
about which Home Tooke has flourished so much, 
as signifying to join (for he did not trouble himself 
with enquiring how it came to signify join) seems, 
to be merely ane ane, or one one, contracted into 
anan, just as our article an is a contraction of ane, 
now spelt one. 

* The derivation which Home Tooke assigns to odd is like many of 
his derivations, utterly unworthy of his usual acutcness. He considers 
it the past participle owed from owe ! ! One of our old writers says of 
God, " He is sovereign ocW." Is that, he is sovereign owed ? 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 116 

This last seems a probable account of the connec- 
tives ; and perhaps such words as jungo, jug-um, 
yoke, &c. are resolvable into yek, one of the forms 
of the numeral above given. It may be enquired 
again — how did achd, eek, yek, &c. come to signify 
one ? The question is fair enough, only the limits 
of this work will not admit of my tracing every word 
up to its primitive etymon. It is sufficient to remark 
here that however changed, the name of the numeral 
one, in all the dialects, originated in the name of the 
head ; and the reason of the name given to the head, 
I have repeatedly explained. This coincidence be- 
tween the numeral and the augmentive (for both are 
resolvable into the same etymon) has occasioned all 
my perplexity in deciding whether connectives ought 
to be resolved into augmentives, or augmentives into 
connectives ; for, as we shall presently see, they are 
closely connected. ~ 



AUGMENTIVES. 

The augmentives are ard, est, er,some, ous,ful, ihle^ 
dom, ness, rick, ry, ship, scape, skip, head, hood, &c. 

Ard is merely a different spelling of alt, signifying 
high, great, much, &c. : drunkard is literally much 
drunk, person being understood ; so sluggard is much 
slow or very slow ; braggart is much or great brag. 
Observe, all such words are properly adjectives put 
elliptically ; which is all their abstraction. Est which 

i 2 



116 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

is called superlative, (as strongest) is merely a soft- 
ened manner of ard, which was formerly spelt ord, 
ertjt, &c. and signified top, beginning, &c. ; being re- 
solvable into arch, which still signifies head, chief, 
&c. ; as arch-angel, arch-apostate : er (as in stronger) 
is merely a contraction of ard. &c. Some, is spelt in 
German nam ; in Latin sim, ssim, (what is called the 
superlative) summa : it is the same as sum, summit, 
ship, scape, skip, dom, signifying properly top, head ; 
metaphorically great or much : darksome is much 
dark, troublesome is much trouble. Some signifying 
great and some signifying little, are resolvable into the 
same origin, which would seem to justify the doctrine 
of the Stoics, that every word is equivocal ; and 
would seem also to justify Dr. Johnson and his chap- 
lain Dr. Todd, in giving the same word different and 
opposite meanings. No object in nature or member 
of the human body, except the hand, has originated 
so much metaphor, (in other words supplied so much 
language,) as the head: among many other uses, it 
denotes metaphorically high, great, &c. : its name as 
we have before intimated, is used to denote the nu- 
meral one ; hence, in old Saxon some or sum denoted 
one, an which was used laxly and diminutively as we 
now use one, an, any, (aneig) ; thus he will come 
some time or other, is equivalent to he will come one 
time or other : will heads of colleges give some en- 
couragement to philological -reform ? is equivalent 
to — will heads of colleges give any encouragement 
to philological reform? It is true that we cannot 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 117 

always, (as Dr. Crombie remarks, of my and mine,) 
according to present usage, put some instead of one, or 
one instead of some ; but this is wholly an affair of 
the ears, in which the understanding ha's> no concern. 
The termination ous is a different spelling of the Latin 
os, softened from ox, ax, or, contraction of arch, &c. 
Full is the same as the Hebrew cl. and our own whole, 
&c. : it is corrupted into ible, (as forcible instead of 
forceful,) which as Home Tooke justly remarks, is 
calculated to cause confusion of ideas or displace a 
very useful termination :' changeable is properly that 
may be changed, though it is commonly used to de- 
note changeful or frequent change. 

The primary idea of dom is dome, cupola, top, cap- 
ut ; it is in fact, like top, merely a variety of cope, 
cape, cap-ut ; and is affixed to words as an augmen- 
tive. Freedom, wisdom, thraldom, are literally much 
free, much wise, much thral ; so that such words are 
properly adjectives put elliptically : all their abstrac- 
tion consists in ellipsis. The Latin termination 
answering to dom, &c. is tas, tat, tud,; which we 
have in such w r ords as liberty, rectitude: tat, tud, are 
merely varieties of tot-us, &c. which is the same 
word originally as tat, dad, taia. Our own ness has 
the same use and is a softened form of rick, resh, 
(Hebrew) signifying head ; and is yet applied to 
capes or headlands on the sea-shore : — Blackness, is 
blackhead; Sheerness, is Shore-head. Like ard, 
dom, &c. ness is merely an augmentive : darkness, 
brightness, are properly much dark, much bright, 



118 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

some other word being understood : drunkenness, for 
instance, is no more abstract than drunkard ; both 
signifying merely much drunk. Drunkenness is in- 
jurious to health, is neither more nor less than — being 
much drunk is injurious to health. I am more par- 
ticular with what are called abstract nouns, that the 
understanding of the reader may not get entangled 
among metaphysical cobwebs or lose itself in the 
Scotch mist and German darkness. Insignificant 
words may be very necessary to authors of true theo- 
ries ; but do not let them make a fool of you, by pre- 
tending to open your eyes while in the very act of 
blind-folding you with the old night-cap of the school- 
men : do not let them put the extinguisher on the 
true knowledge of words and ideas, and quackishly 
boast of new light and great discovery ; or vail your 
understanding with fine-spun nonsense under the 
name of common sense. 

Rick, which is contracted into ry, is the same as 
rex, rich, rank,origo, origin, arch, &2x v » rash, Hebrew. 
Affixed to words it is simply an augmentive : Bishop- 
rick, is literally great bishop, though put elliptically 
to denote what belongs to him. As contracted into 
ry, the word seems merely augmentive ; bravery, 
much brave ; bribery, much bribing or great bribe. 
Observe, that as ry is augmentive, it is not usual to 
give it a plural form, (for the plural termination is in 
a certain sense augmentive,) being itself in many in- 
stances equivalent to the plural : imagery, is equiva- 
lent to images ; yeomanry, to yeomen ; cavalry, to 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 119 

horse troops; only the termination ry presents the 
objects more as one — more in a mass than the plural 
termination, which always excites simply the idea 
of more than one. The reader will likewise observe, 
that rivalry and rivalship are precisely of the same 
import ; so that ship and ry are terminations of the 
same use ; and therefore such terms as lordship, 
friendship, landskip, &c. fall respectively under the 
same remarks. ' 

Head and hood are both from heafod, like ship, &c. 
a variety of caput. Godhead, is great chief or head 
God ; maidenhood, is great maiden, put elliptically, 
and therefore like other words put elliptically, it is 
taken with some latitude: so manhood, which liter- 
ally means great man, high or whole man, is taken 
in allusion to virility, full age, courage, &c. All 
words put elliptically, are exceedingly apt to become 
indefinite if not insignificant; and it is ellipsis that 
gives to one and the same word the appearance of 
different and opposite meanings ; though it is evi- 
dent, as Home Tooke justly remarks, that a sign 
with different and opposite significations, would be 
in fact no sign whatever, and could signify nothing 
whatever. 

I have given the above view of such terminations 
as seem to be augmentive ; but whether they are 
truly augmentive or merely connective when affixed 
to nouns requires to be considered. It has been re- 
marked, that junction and augmentation are insepar- 



120 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

able ideas : * hence eek or eke, means to join and to 
augment. Which of these twin ideas is primary, and 
which is secondary it is somewhat difficult to ascer- 
tain : in other words, it is difficult to ascertain whe- 
ther the term expressive of joining, be resolvable into 
that expressive of augmenting, or the latter be re- 
solvable into the former ; hence it is also difficult to 
ascertain, whether the same terminations be always 
truly augmentive or sometimes only conjunctive. I 
have pointed to a very probable origin of the conjunc- 
tion or copula ; namely, achd, yek, eek, ek, &c. (all 
which I take to be contractions of arch, rick, or CR, 
RC,) the name of the numeral one. The name of 
the numeral (it has been remarked) is as well as great, 
muck, more, Sec. resolvable into head, cope, top, ca- 
put, copula, Caliph, Caleb, crop, or any other spel- 
ling of the word signifying head or top. It is this 
coincidence that gives existence to contending pro- 
babilities ; and it is such coincidence (for all the 
varied modes of exoression are like so many diverging 
streams, traceable to one origin), that occasions the 
chief difficulty of etymology; which difficulty is of 
such a nature, that none but philosophic thinkers can 
possibly unfold the true principles of language : hence 
all that has been hitherto published on the subject, 
(if we except some of Home Tooke/s reasonings,) is 

* Metaphysicians would call them a complex idea; an expression as 
incorrect aa to call a body and it^ shadow a complex object ; or light and 
hed .! complex idea connected with fire. It is evident that the same sign 

for fire must some times denote heat and sometimes light. 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 



l*i 



more allied to alchymy than chymistry. It were as 
vain, indeed, to expect true etymology from such 
men as Parkhurst, as it would be to expect a true 
system of nature from such men as Hutchinson ; and 
Harris was as incapable of true grammar as Lindley 
Murray and his disciples are of true philosophy. 

The same instrument must be applied to different 
uses, (and in reference to intellect especially, there 
are but few instruments,) and the name of it must be 
employed for different purposes : the name of the 
head or top, denotes in all the dialects, heap, chief, 
great, much, more, addition, encrease, &c. ; all which 
words necessarily connect with them the idea of junc- 
tion or joining. It frequently happens that words 
thus having a primary and secondary idea, come in 
process of time to be employed merely for the pur- 
pose of expressing the secondary idea, though they 
were at first employed solely for the purpose of ex- 
pressing the primary idea. Heafod, heafyd, (it has 
many spellings,) denotes heap, much, augment, aug- 
mentation, &c. ; but as the idea of conjoining is inse- 
parable from that of encreasing heafyd, is in Welsh, 
simply a conjunction like our own and, a different 
spelling of add: eke or eek, og, (in Welsh) ac, ax, 
ox, as, on, or, age, ic, &c. (it has many spellings,) 
denote in some cases augmentation, in others simply 
conjunction. Eek or eke, (as has been repeatedly 
remarked,) signifies to augment and to unite ; og, in 
Welsh, has also both uses : celiog, large browed— 
trcediog, footed, feeted, or having feet. Contracted 



122 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

into us, it has, like ous from os, Latin, both uses : 
cariadus, loving ; of mis, fearful. The termination 
age (a variety of the former), is sometimes augmen- 
tive, but often merely conjunctive: personage is 
great person ; parsonage, however, is not great par- 
son, but something connected with parson ; as par- 
sonage-house, living, benefice, &c. ; so vicarage, 
poundage, &c. if the ellipsis be filled up, is vicarage 
living, poundage rate, due, or the like ; that is vicar 
eke, or join something else, — poundage eke, or add 
rate, due, or some equivalent word. Observe, (as 
was remarked on ry,) that age often amounts to the 
meaning or force of the plural number: foliage is 
equivalent to leaves, — cordage to cords ; only (as 
was remarked on ry,) age, though making a noun of 
multitude, presents the objects more as one — more in 
a mass than the plural termination ; as garbage, herb- 
age, &c. The Latin ssim, si?n, and our est, (called 
signs of the superlative) are merely connective in 
such words as the following : quingentesimus, qua- 
dragesimus, solecism ; enthusiast, dentist, amongst : 
ist, ast, est, &c. are plainly the samo as the Latin con- 
junction ast, and the third person singular of the sub- 
stantive verb, as it is called. When or, er, is (for it 
is one termination) affixed to what are commonly 
called adjectives, it is plainly augmentive as minor, 
lesser ; in all other cases it seems merely connective : 
Baker, amor, amare, caster; that is bake, add person ; 
east or rising, join whatever is intended, as caster- 
time, raster-offering. 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 123 

The Latin termination on, like or, ox, ax, as, (of all 
which it is merely a variety) was originally (as it still 
is in Italian and Spanish) an augmentive: patronus 
or patron, was literally great father ; matronus or ma- 
tron, was great mother ; so from cam (Italian) a house, 
is casone (changed into maison) great house ; libro, 
a book; librone, great book; hombre, (Spanish) a 
man; hombron, great man; muger, (mulier) a wo- 
man ; mugerona, great woman. But though this 
may be considered the primary meaning of on, it is 
evidently connective merely as a termination to what 
are called abstract nouns ; as division, narration, 
union, occasion, cohesion, &c. All such words are 
as really put elliptically, as they would be considered 
if changed into what are called participles ; as divid- 
ing or divided ; narrating, narrated ; uniting, united. 
The termination on, like ing, ed, merely gives notice 
to expect some other word or words in connexion 
with the word or words to which it is affixed : for 
the same reason that we say a vision, an audience, 
we can say a sight, a hearing, a living, &c. 

Observe, as terminations are very liable to become 
insignificant, so some that were once augmentive 
have wholly lost their augmentive force or meaning : 
this is the case, especially with affixes, when trans- 
planted out of their native dialect : casone is in Italian 
great house, but maison in French (the same word) 
means simply house whether great or small ; bason is 
in Spanish a great vessel, but in French and English 
(generally spelt basin), it has no reference to size. 



124 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

As unmeaning or mistaken terminations occasion 
most of the mistakes respecting what are called ab- 
stract terms, which are the ever-teeming origin of 
metyphysical nonsense, misty perception and vacuous, 
indefinite composition, I dwell longer upon them 
than I should otherwise have thought necessary ; for 
correct philological knowledge, however important 
in itself, I consider only profit by the. way to higher 
advantages. The reader must constantly remember 
that all words much used are apt to lose their mean- 
ing : they are kicked about by carelessness and ig- 
norance till the sense is completely knocked out of 
them ; especially if they be foreigners or exotics 
needlessly imported by fashionable folly or learned 
pedantry. He must recollect also, the inseparable 
connexion between the idea of junction and that of 
augmentation. 

We have seen that all such terminations as dom, 
ness, hood, ship, are resolvable into top, caput, head, 
arch, and the like : we have seen that such termina- 
tions are used both as augmentives and conjunctives; 
or to adopt the language of Mr. Home Tooke, in re- 
ference to simple adjective terminations — they give 
notice to expect some other words in connexion with 
those to which they are affixed : these intimated 
words may be elliptically omitted, but they are 
always either implied or expressed. Moreover, we 
have seen, (some repetition is necessary on this point) 
thai ellipsis (which is adopted for the same reason as 
anj other kind of contraction or abbreviation — to 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 125 

vsave time and labour), is all the abstraction that ob- 
tains in language. The only enquiry remaining on 
this part of our subject is, whether the terminations 
in what are called abstract nouns, such as friendship, 
falsehood, wisdom, rivalry, blackness be insignificant 
or truly augmentive, or merely conjunctive : one or 
other of these they must be, and my object is solely 
to dissipate the mistiness that hangs over them and 
prevent their niistifying men's perceptions ; not to 
work them up into any fine theory, though this 
would be very easy and probably attended with more 
glory to the author, than unfolding the principles of 
language in all the simplicity and plainness of truth. 

A few experiments upon the terminations in ques- 
tion, will probably convince the reader that they are 
merely connectives ; and he will recollect what has 
been so often intimated, that connectives are nearly 
akin to insignificants. The following modes of ex- 
pression are evidently equivalent : there was much 
rivalship on the occasion — there was much rivalry on 
theoccasion — there was much rivaling on theoccasion 
— there were many rivals on the occasion : we are 
all in darkness respecting the future state of Europe 
—we are all in the dark respecting the future state of 
Europe : Englishmen may sink into slavery — English- 
men may sink into slaves ; but their ancestors strug- 
gled nobly for freedom— struggled nobly to be free. 

Some perhaps will find shades of different meaning 
in such various modes of expression ; they are not, 
however, shades of meaning, but shadows of the un- 



126 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

derstanding and blinds of perception : the great mis- 
take, indeed, which originates almost all other mis- 
takes is, that of supposing different modes of expres- 
sion, must imply different meanings or shades of 
meaning. Pupilage, pupilship, pupildom, pupilry, 
&c. (though some of these are not in use,) are all 
equivalent to pupil state, being a pupil ; or rather 
they all denote that something is to be taken in con- 
nexion with pupil : so popery, popedom, bishoprick, 
kingdom, wisdom, scholarship, darkness and the like, 
simply denote what is connected with pope, bishop, 
king, wise, scholar, dark ; or rather they are merely 
pope, bishop, king and scholar, with an adjective or 
conjunctive termination ; the words that should be 
added or conjoined, are supposed to be well known 
and therefore not expressed ; which ellipsis, though 
convenient for dispatch, is nevertheless like every 
other contraction, very apt to cause obscurity and in- 
definiteness. This is one of the chief causes of all 
metaphysical mistiness and imposture : this is the 
principal origin of all the false doctrines that have 
been published concerning words and ideas, grammar, 
rhetoric, logic, and in short, wherever abstract rea- 
soning, as it is called, is applied.. Sublime reasoners, 
like Kant and Dugald Stewart, consider etymology 
below the dignity of philosophy — utterly unworthy 
their exalted understandings — they can erect won- 
derful theories up in the clouds, far above the gross 
region of senses, sensations and sensible objects — 
llkey can create a world of significancy and sense out 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 12? 

of insignificant and nonsensical terms — they can 
make wonderful discoveries in the mathematics and 
astronomy of Intellectual Philosophy, without wast- 
ing their time in studying the nature of signs, instru- 
ments and telescopes : words are the signs, instru- 
ments and telescopes of ideas ; but the true theory of 
the soul can do very well without distinct ideas and 
significant words. 



NEGATIVES OR DISJUNCTIVES.* 

The class of words here intended, are of so ambi- 
guous a character, that it is difficult or impossible to 
give them any appropriate denomination. They 
might, in some instances, be most properly termed 
negatives — in some disjunctives — and in others dimi- 
nutives : detach, disjoin, divide, seem to express what 
we consider disjunction simply ; despair, (de spero,) 
dispirit and the like, seem to be what we consider 
negative; decrease, decay, &c. seem to be diminu- 
tive. The same word (de, re, &c.) does not change 
its meaning, but variety of construction may in one 
case suggest the idea of negation or opposition, 'in 
another that of disjunction, in a third that of dimi- 
nution. Observe, there is the same relation among 

* Among other intelligible, significant and sensible terms in the 
Babylonish system of grammar, we find copulative conjunctions and dis- 
junctive conjunctions. 



128 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

these ideas, as between conjunction and augmenta* 
tion. 

Our usual negative is no, the same as ne (Latin), 
which doubled is non, not, and which is un, in, as a 
prefix : uncapable or incapable, not capable.; un- 
throne, unhorse, un teach, &c : unsuit is not used in 
reference to law, but if it were used, the meaning 
would be the same as nonsuit : no, ne, (pj> in Greek) 
de, se, di, are resolvable into re, which is the same 
as 87, the etymology of which will be given when 
treating of the Hebrew and Latin languages. How 
little the Latin language is understood^ and how 
much a rational exposition of it is wanted, will appear 
from the following explanation (we cannot speak 
truly, without speaking ironically of the grammar and 
lexicography that have so long prevailed) of re and 
de given in Entick's Dictionary: " Re in composi- 
tion, signifies again, back, often, against, over, upon, 
up, down, along, in, by, afar, off, away, at a distance, 
greatly or very much ; sometimes it denies :" " De 
in composition, usually signifies from or off; some- 
times it signifies by ; sometimes down ; sometimes 
diminution ; sometimes greatly or very much ; some- 
times wholly or entirely ; sometimes plainly ; and 
sometimes it denies and stands for non, not." 

This is the kind of Babylonish lexicography of 
Johnson's Dictionary, which gives twenty-four mean- 
ingt, or shadows of meaning, backed by twenty-four 
authorities to the word from; yet this confusion is 
worse confounded in the hands of a Dr. Todd, who 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 129 

boasts of making ten thousand additions to the old 
chaotic mass. 

It was remarked in a preceding part, that as con- 
junctives may be supposed to originate in the nume- 
ral yeh, eek, achd or one ; so the negatives or disjunc- 
tives may be supposed to originate in the numeral 
duo, two. What seems to countenance this suppo- 
sition, twain, tween, or twin is still used as a verb in 
Scotland, to denote to separate, to disjoin, or the like. 
This view of the subject has appeared at times with 
considerable force of evidence to my perceptions ; 
but after much reflecting and enquiring (for the 
negatives, like the conjunctives, have cost me much 
anxious thinking) I am not satisfied ; and the prin- 
cipal reason of dissatisfaction is, that it looks too 
metaphysical — too ingenious — too much like a fine 
theory, to suppose that the makers of language would 
uniformly say one for unite, and two for disjoin. 
They were self-evident, ready-work disciples of ne- 
cessity, and took whatever came first in their way 
fittest for their purpose. 

There are different words employed to denote 
negation and disjunction. The following modes of 
expression are equivalent : They were all happy but 
(be out) the stranger — all except the stranger — all save 
the stranger — all unless the stranger. It is evident 
that but, except, save, unless, in the foregoing instances 
amount to not or a negation. Observe : unless is a 
different spelling of unloose, a softened form of un- 
lock, unlink, unlatch ; and"* therefore unloose, which 

K 



130 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

occurs not only in our common translation of scrip- 
ture, but in all our old authors, is not, as Johnson 
says, an improper expression ; but this is always the 
manner of ignorant critics. If they meet with me- 
thinketh, unloose, or any other term which they do 
not understand, they have only to call it ungramma- 
tical, or a solecism, and there is an end of the matter. 
The author of the Classical Tour has, with other false 
criticism, said, when speaking of the Latin as cor- 
rupted into Italian : " The most material change 
took place, not in the sound but in the sense of the 
words : thus laxare to loosen, unbind, has become 
lasciare to let go, let in general/' The meaning of 
the word is what it ever was ; nor is loosen different 
from let go in any other respect than the more gene- 
ral is different from the more particular meaning : 
whatever is loosed or unbound is, of course, let 
go. 

The reader will perceive that as loose is a contrac- 
tion of unloose ; so less (a termination) is a contrac- 
tion of unless : beardless, fearless, are without beard, 
without fear ; or take away beard, take away fear : 
beardless boy, fearless man, are just the opposite of 
bearded boy, fearing man. The following modes of 
expression are equivalent: without a sound philology 
sound logic is hopeless — without sound philology 
sound logic is without hope : unless there were 
much philological ignorance the Dictionary of John- 
Bon and Grammar of Murray would not have become 
popular— hut for much philological ignorance the 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 131 

Dictionary of Johnson and Grammar of Murray would 
not have become popular. 

As out is a negative which nullifies the positive or 
conjunction in such expressions as but, (beout) with- 
out ; so off, from, contracted into fro are equivalent 
to out : he went off, or he went out for India, is 
equivalent to — he went from England for India : so, 
far off at sea, or far out at sea, is equivalent to far at 
sea from land ; for off and out have the same rela- 
tion to land as from has, though in the one case it is 
expressed and in the other it is only implied. I came 
out of London — came off from London — came /row- 
London — or went out of London — went off from 
London — went from London, are plainly equivalent, 
though we may not be accustomed to hear such 
modes of expression interchanged as of the same im- 
port ; but custom (as has been often intimated) is the 
arbiter not of language, but of arbitrary systems and 
distinctions in language : — custom which gives law 
to slavish souls is the scorn of wise men and idol of 
fools. If language be considered an affair of the ears 
merely, it is abundantly unreasonable to attempt to 
reason on grammar. 

Home Tooke, whose philological foible was that 
of affecting a northern origin, says, that from is the 
Anglo-Saxon and Gothic noun frum, beginnings 
source, origin ; thus, figs came from Turkey ; that 
is, figs came— -the source or beginning Turkey. This 
seems no very convincing, though a very convenient 
mode of experimenting to establish a favourite hy- 

k2 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

pothesis ; and yet it seems to have passed as quite 
satisfactory with Dr. Crombie and many others. We 
may^say, in Home Tooke's own words, "Allow him 
to choose his instances, and they run on all four, 
(though as in this case of the figs and Turkey they 
hobble awkwardly,) but choose instances for him 
and they limp most miserably." It is not worth 
while, however, to set his theory a limping on dif- 
ferent instances than those which he adopted : it is 
most important to the enquirer to notice the unwar- 
rantableness of Home Tooke's resolving difficult 
words into Gothic verbs and abstract nouns ; a kind 
of philological manoeuvre, unfavourable to fair en- 
quiry and utterly unworthy a profound enquirer. 
Be it so, that /rom is the Gothic frum : what is J rum! 
Of what sensible object is it the sign ? Or into the 
name of what sensible object is it resolvable ? And 
how did the name of the sensible object come to 
signify beginning, origin, &c. ? These are the pro- 
per enquiries unless we would continue to grope and 
wander in metaphysical obscurity and confusion 
from theory to theory and /row* conjecture to conjec- 
ture, in a wilderness of idle controversy and unpro- 
fitable verbosity. 

It has been already remarked, that no sensible 
object — that no member of the human body, except 
the hand, has originated so much metaphor or sup- 
plied so much language (for language is made up 
of metaphor) as the head ; and the following are a 
tew of the many words, or rather spellings, resolvable 






PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 133 

into its name : Caliph, calph (contracted into alp, 
ab, ob, up, off, &c.) scalp, cap-ut, cope, copula, 
cape, chief, &c. ; graf, greeve, crop, cream, (head 
or top of milk, &c.) foam, froth, barm, fore, far, 
forth, from, fro, for, &c. These and many other 
diversities of the same word that might be given 
may in one view be considered more literal, in ano- 
ther more metaphoric — in one respect as concrete, in 
another as abstract ; only it is hoped the reader will 
not suffer his understanding to be mistified, bewil- 
dered, and befooled by unmeaning or wrong-mean- 
ing terms. The reader will perceive that though I 
have grouped a few different forms of the same word 
together it would be aside from my immediate ob- 
ject to trace them up to their origin, or outwards in 
their diverging directions : it is from that requires to 
be explained in this place. Fruni signifies, as Home 
Tooke has said, beginnings origin, source, because, 
as I have remarked in the Pioneer of Rational Phi- 
lology, the name of the head denotes in all the dia- 
lects origin, &c. ; but this though true does not ap- 
pear to explain from, which is equivalent to forth or 
out, not to beginning ; thus figs came out of Turkey 
— or forth of Turkey is the same meaning as from 
Turkey ; but it makes a very forced signification to 
say, figs came beginning, origin, or source Turkey : 
from seems not only equivalent to but merely a dif- 
ferent form of forth, which is closely related to porth 
(Welsh), port, porch. The following modes of ex- 
pression are not in use, but I presume they would 



154 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

be intelligible to persons accustomed to take a wide 
range in English reading : Figs outed Turkey — figs 
offed Turkey — figs proceeded Turkey — figs forthed 
Turkey — figsfored or fared Turkey. We have/ar^ 
still both as a verb and noun, denoting foreing or 
going forth ; and farewell is still the compliment at 
parting when a friend, neighbour or acquaintance 
leaves, goes off, from or out of the place, country, &c. 
Observe : farewell was originally said to the person 
departing, expressing a wish that he might fare, fore, 
go, or travel well or safely, prosperously, &c. 

The intelligent reader will perceive the connexion 
among the following word : foris, forest, foreign, fro, 
from, forth, fya, Qv§a.Qev 9 door, through, thorough &c. 
Many words beginning with for or fore will appear 
more intelligible by spelling them from or fro : as 
forego, frogo ; forget, froget ; forsake, froseeh ; for- 
bear, frobear ; forbid, frobid ; forgive, frogive ; par- 
don, perdon or prodon ; — forlorn, frolorn ; forswear, 
froswear, &c. It will be perceived also thato^'and 
out are contractions resolvable into the same origin 
as from, fro, forth, &c. 

Dr. Crombie, repeating after Home Tooke, says, 
M or is a contraction of oder, a Saxon word signify- 
ing contrary, or sometimes merely different." It is 
really to be wished that authors would think more and 
rote less. I would if possible give the Doctor the 
respect due to a philosophic scholar, but there is so 
much in his grammar constantly rising up in judg- 
ment against him that I have much difficulty to re- 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 135 

strain the force of my convictions. Home Tooke 
had a reason for resolving words into Saxon or Gothic 
nouns and verbs. His favourite theory — the north- 
ern origin, was ever and anon running away with his 
understanding ; but why should sincere worshipers 
of mother Rome dance after northern lights, or wan- 
der in Gothic darkness ? Oder^ other, either, s^s 9 
or, else, &c. are all contractions of alter, whose ety- 
mology will be given when we come to treat of the 
Latin language. Custom may have given different 
offices, or rather posts in composition to different 
forms of the same word ; but or, else, otherwise, &c. 
are plainly synonymous : thus, the tender ears and 
manners of accomplished petits maitres would go into 
hysterics with rough handling, or I would speak 
more plainly and pointedly to them of their silly 
systems of learning — else I would speak more plainly 
and pointedly — otherwise I would speak more plainly 
and pointedly. In all such exceptive modes of ex- 
pression or, else, otherwise, &c. are evidently nega- 
tive, and might be changed into — if not — were it 
not — but for, and the like. Dr. Crombie tries his 
microscopic skill at hair-splitting on or by repre- 
senting it as sometimes disjunctive and sometimes 
sub-disjunctive; but my poor understanding is not 
metaphysical enough for such nice, vacuous dis- 
tinctions. 



\Sb PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY, 



DIMINUTIVES. 

The class of words included under this denomina- 
tion will not detain us long. We have not now any 
regular diminutive termination in the English lan- 
guage ; but ling might be restored to its wonted use 
without much violence to present usage or English 
ears : as grammaticling, philosophling, thinkling, 
criticling, &c. The conveniency and expressiveness 
of such a termination is evident : one of the greatest 
charms of the Scottish dialect is the diminutive ter- 
mination ock or y : as lassock or lassy ; laddock or 
laddie for little lad, little lass. Burns addressing 
the mouse, says : 

" Timorous beasty, what a panic's in thy breasty." 

In this age of little maitres I should be glad to see 
some form of our ancient diminutive revived ; and 
indeed we cannot speak appropriately on many oc- 
casions without saying metaphysicling, authorling, 
hireling, lordling, dukeling, squireling, priestling, &c. 
Observe: all the diminutive or diminishing ter- 
minations of our language are like lyte, lit, little, 
&c. contractions of fclein, which yet remains in 
Dutch and German as a separate word signifying 
little. Contracted into ock it appears in such words 
as bullock, hillock : softened into ish it is affixed 
to adjectives ; saltish, a little salt ; sweetish, a little 






PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. IS? 

sweet ; blackish, a little black : it is contracted into 
kin in mannikin, &c. ; into ket (as child into 
chit) in pocket, a little pouch, poke, bag, &c. ; or 
quet, paroquet, pacquet or packet ; en in kitten, 
which is kitlin in Scotch ; ling in gosling, properly 
gooseling ; firstling, yearling, &c. 

Observe : child, chit, kid, foal, Alius, cut, the 
Latin diminutive, culex, o\iy-o £ , and a hundred other 
words are all expressive of the same idea, and all re- 
solvable into child, or any creature newly born ; the 
reason of whose name is sufficiently obvious. Men 
who are constantly talking without thinking, speak 
of this idea being relative, and that idea being rela- 
tive ; but all ideas are relative ; and the relative lit- 
tleness of calf, foal, child, &c. is so obvious and 
striking that their name could hardly fail to be em- 
ployed to denote diminutiveness and diminution in 
general, or in the abstract as a metaphysician would 
term it. The name of any other object (and all writ- 
ten language originated in visible objects) remarkably 
and proverbially little, might be employed for the 
same purpose : sis mite, minnow, shrimp, shrub, 
mouse, wren, jot, dot, tittle : or as the name of the 
head or highest member, or part of the human body 
is employed in all the dialects to denote highness and 
greatness in general ; so the name of the foot, or low- 
est member, might be employed (and has been em- 
ployed) to denote lowness and littleness in general. 
Still, however, it would be proper to enquire how 
these or any objects remarkably and proverbially lit- 



158 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

tie came to receive their names ; in other words, it 
would be proper to enquire into the reason or cause 
of their name ; but this enquiry, though important 
would take us too far from our immediate purpose : 
enough has been said to unfold the nature of dimi- 
nutives in general, and to show that the usual and 
as it were universal diminutive, is resolvable into the 
name of child, cild, &c. ; the etymon of which is 
sufficiently obvious. 

Thus I have finished what I intended concerning 
the component parts of speech : every word which 
may be considered as belonging to this classification 
has not been particularly noticed : but I have brought 
all those words into view which I thought most 
likely to be mistaken or to occasion difficulty. My 
English Dictionary will be the proper place for ex- 
plaining fully and minutely the w T hole of the English 
language ; which with the other philological works 
contemplated by me, and in a state of progress, will, 
I trust, completely unvail the nature of language in 
general, as well as the Hebrew, Latin and English 
languages in particular. 



( 139 ) 



PART IV. 

THE COMMON SYSTEM OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR 
EXAMINED. 

'' ENGLISH grammar (it is said) is the art of 
speaking and writing the English language with pro- 
priety." What then is the standard of propriety ? 
" Usage (Dr. Crombie says) is in this case law ; usus 
Quern penes arbitrium est, etjus et norma loquendi. If 
it were now the practice to say ' I loves' instead 
of ' I love/ the former phraseology would rest on 
the same firm ground on which the latter now stands : 
and ' I love' would be as much a violation of the 
rules of grammar, or, which is the same thing, of 
established usage, as c I loves' is at present." 

I thank the Doctor for this candid admission : if 
the doctrine be not worthy a philosopher the confes- 
sion is worthy an honest w T riter. But if usage merely 
be the standard of right language, why all this noise 
about grammar ? Why attempt to reason concerning 
the matter ? Why bring a large assortment of gram- 
matical doctrines, rules and technical terms from 
Greek and Latin into the English language ? Why 
publish an expensive book on the subject ; for sure 
the usual violations of usage might be put into a six- 



140 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

penny piece to be roted off by the grammatical disci- 
ple ? And what is far more important, said grammati- 
cal disciple might learn in a very few days or weeks 
to say after usage instead of wasting his time and 
ruining his understanding with unintelligible terms 
and absurd doctrines. This indeed is in every view 
of it a more serious affair than either pedagogues or 
parents are generally aware. 

Considering Dr. Crombie as a philosophic scholar, 
I did not expect that he would back absurd posi- 
tions in philology with silly school-boy quotations 
from Horace. " This, it must be confessed, is a 
short way of ending the controversy, and by virtue 
of a Latin quotation we may become critics in lan- 
guage without the trouble of studying it." More- 
over it is according to reputable usage, and it has a 
show of learning to put old Latin patches on Eng- 
lish composition ; or to conceal learned mysteries 
and absurdities in classic vacua ; but a philosopher 
should despise pedantry, affectation and quackery. 
Dr. Crombie's great forerunner on Philosophic Ne- 
cessity did not pollute his compositions with classic 
crudities; but remarked, as justly as wittily con- 
cerning these favourite morsels that their coming so 
often up again proves them never to have been well di- 
gested. 

It will go down to posterity that I considered Dr. 
Crombie's Grammar the most philosophic in the 
English language ; but what will posterity think of 
English grammarians, when they find the same Dr. 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 141 

Crombie writing in the following manner: " Usage 
is law ;" " the usage which gives law to language 
must be present, national and reputable ;" then ad- 
mitting that there is no uniform, standard usage ; 
and last of all giving canons to supply the want of 
unquestionable authority ? It were unreasonable to 
argue these points ; but there is one remark which 
the author seems to have considered argument which 
must therefore be reasoned with. " The philosopher 
does not determine (says Dr. Crombie) by what laws 
the physical and moral world should be governed ; 
but by the careful observation and accurate compa- 
rison of the various phenomena presented to his view, 
he deduces and ascertains the general principles by 
which the system is regulated. The province of the 
grammarian seems precisely similar. He is a mere 
digester and compiler, explaining what are the 
modes of speech not dictating what they should be." 
It is humiliating to think how little true reasoning- 
there is in the world ; and it is with regret I remark 
that the above quotation is one of the most specious 
specimens of reasoning in Dr. Crombie's grammar. 
" The philosopher does not determine by what laws 
the physical and moral world should be governed ;" 
but why ? Because he cannot determine. He can 
neither make nor mend the laws of the world, not 
to mention that he can never fully comprehend them. 
But could he suggest a new and improved code of 
laws even for the government of the world — could 
he clearly prove wherein the old laws are wrong, cor- 



142 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

rupted or perverted, and what they ought to be, it 
would be right to do so. But though men can nei- 
ther make nor alter the laws of the physical and mo- 
ral government of the world, they can make modes of 
speech and are constantly changing their modes of 
speech either for better or worse. It would be just 
as reasonable to say that those who treat of juris- 
prudence, political economy, &c. are mere digesters 
and compilers, explaining what laws, institutions, 
customs, &c. are, not determining what they ought 
tobe as to make the same assertion concerning the 
grammarian. Had Dr. Crombie forgot that through 
the greater part of his book he had been trying to 
determine not only what modes of expression arc 
but what they ought to be P Had he forgot that he 
had spoken of those " who have dispensed the laws 
of grammar in our language ?" Or rather, conscious 
of the unreasonableness of the grammar he had writ- 
ten, did he intend this story about the digester and 
compiler as a saving clause for all the contradictory 
evidence he had given respecting present usage ? No 
wonder that the patch or plaster from Horace was 
thought necessary on this part of the author's sub- 
ject. The reader has always a right to presume that 
there is something unsound under a Latin patch in 
English composition ; or that it has been stuck on 
by vanity and affectation, merely for show, like the 
black beauty spots which folly sometimes puts on 
fashionable faces. 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 143 



THE SYNTAX OF PRONOUNS CONSIDERED. 

The whole of arbitrary grammar may be considered 
as centring in what are called pronoun and verb, and 
therefore it is sufficient to consider these ; for such 
rules as the following are too silly to merit particular 
notice : " The article a or an is joined to nouns of 
the singular number only ; or nouns denoting a plu* 
rality of things in one aggregate." It would be just 
as important to remark, that the numeral one is joined 
to nouns of the singular number only, for an or a is 
merely a contraction of one or ane : the supposed 
excellence of the article, as spelt differently from the 
numeral, is wholly Visionary ; unnecessary varieties 
of spelling and pronunciation are not excellencies, 
but faults. As if it were on purpose to outrage sense 
and significancy, the grammarians have called an or 
a the indefinite article; which is just as absurd as 
as it would be to call vne an indefinite numeral. The 
following rules are so abstrusely significant and im- 
portant, that I am not qualified to judge of their 
merits : " Substantives signifying the same thing 
agree in case." " One substantive governs another, 
signifying a different thing in the genitive case/' &c. 
&c. It is only such great grammarians as Lindley 
Murray, that have capacity to comprehend and ex- 
plain such wonderful rules ; for I will not insult the 



144 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

understanding of Dr. Crombie, by supposing that he 
will ever attempt to explain them again. 

In treating of the pronouns, I shall deem it suffi- 
cient (for they have been already explained), to en- 
quire whether they have what are called gender and 
case. We have seen that pronouns are properly con- 
junctions, and therefore neither gender nor case can 
properly belong to them. It may be asked, has not 
the third personal pronoun plainly the distinction of 
masculine, feminine and neuter ? No : they or them 
is applied equally to men, women, and even imper- 
sonal objects : zV, called neuter, is frequently applied 
to children who are either masculine or feminine : he 
and she are applied to objects wholly destitute of 
masculine or feminine attributes ; as, the sun rises 
at six and he sets at six — I saw him rise yesterday ; 
the moon appears and she shines, but the light is not 
her own. Such profound grammarians as Harris and 
his disciple Lindley Murray, have published sublime 
doctrines about objects being personified, and that 
those which are remarkable for causing and giving are 
considered masculine— those feminine which are re- 
markable for receiving and containing : the sun gives 
— the moon receives light, therefore the sun is to be 
considered husband and the moon wife. This is all 
so very wonderful and philosophic, that we wonder 
Dr. Crombie tried to confute it. 

Every person acquainted with the English language 
(I mean beyond the threshold of present usage), 
knows that till very lately there were not separate 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 145 

pronouns for masculine, feminine and neuter objects. 
Such distinctions, whether good or bad, have been 
created by those " who have dispensed the. laws of 
English grammar," so as to make it conform to that 
of Greece and Rome. It may be asked, are not such 
distinctions useful? The utility of them is very 
questionable. We have no distinction of masculine, 
feminine and neuter, in what is called the third per- 
son plural, and ! do not find any inconveniency 
arising from this deficiency. It would be precisely 
the same case if we had but one word, or spelling, 
for the third person singular. It is with superfluous 
words, as with ail superfluities, we get used to them 
and fancy we could not do without them. It would 
be easy to prove, that except when he and she are 
used adjectively, as a he-goat, a. she-goat, Sec. the dis- 
tinction is an inconvenience rather than advantage ; 
but this is not a matter of much importance, and I 
wish to reserve my reasoning for successful attacks 
on the more mischievous parts of arbitrary grammar. 

The present grammarians are all busy at work to 
establish a useless, embarrassing and enslaving dis- 
tinction between who and which, as if the former 
were appropriate only to grown persons — the latter 
to children and other little things. I do not wonder 
that such great grammarians as Lindley Murray, 
should think themselves capable of mending our 
standard compositions, and of barbering them into 
the fashion ; but I was rather surprised to find Dr, 



146 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

Crombie as valet de chambre to that great personage, 
Present Usage, clipping and shaving at the composi- 
tions of our best writers. Those who wrote a hun- 
dred and fifty years ago were poor ungrammatical 
men, for they lived too soon and lost all the benefit 
of present usage, and those grammatical rules and 
doctrines which swarm as plentifully as insects in all 
the schools of the three kingdoms. What would our 
old authors think, if they were to come back to this 
world and find all the grarnmatical masters, mistresses, 
journeymen, journeywomen and apprentices, busy 
clipping up their compositions into good grammar ! 
Shakespear would group them more humorously than 
the Merry Wives of Windsor, for everlasting sport to 
laughing multitudes. Bacon would think it neces- 
sary to write a profound treatise on the prevalence of 
false, foolish, childish learning. Hobbes would con- 
tent himselfwith putting a few shrewd remarks into 
a Tom Thumb volume, proving that false, foolish 
grammar was originally spun out of the spider brains 
of Egyptian mystagogues and Grecian Sophists ; and 
that it is fit only for finical fingers, or to entangle 
literary insects. 

In reply, our grammatical Doctors would say, that 
good usage gives law to language ; and that usage to 
be good must be present, national and reputable. It 
was right to say Oar Father which art in heaven, when 
our translation of the Scriptures was made, but it 
would be very wrong to say so now : nay, it were a 
kind of insult to apply which to a person, for accord- 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 147 

ing to good grammar or present usage, it is appro- 
priated to children, beasts and insects. 

Dr. Crombie has sense enough, to admit that some 
ridicule was due on this topic, and that it would be 
a mockery of reasoning to apply argument. It is 
sufficiently evident that the distinction made between 
who and which, is not only arbitrary and useless, but 
inconvenient and embarrassing. How often is every 
writer obliged to employ the conjunction that, merely 
to avoid making bad grammar ! Thus, were I to say 
the man and his horse who fell into the ditch — the 
man and his horse which fell into the ditch, I should 
be supposed to make bad grammar, because who is 
considered inapplicable to the horse and which to the 
man. All such grave and wise grammatical objec- 
tions I happily get rid of, by adopting a conjunction 
that has not yet been perverted from its proper cha- 
racter; saying — the man and his horse that fell into 
the ditch. ( 

Because Greek and Latin have destinctions in the 
termination of pronouns called cases, our grammatical 
legislators have laboured to establish similar distinc- 
tions in English pronouns. It is not my present 
business to consider such distinctions, as they exist 
in Latin and Greek ; such distinctions may perhaps 
be necessary and useful in these dialects, but they 
are wholly unnecessary and useless in our own lan- 
guage ; for what is agent or what is subject is indicated 
by position not termination. When a plain ungram- 
matical man says, I saw he, or me saw he no one can 

L 2 



14S PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

doubt for a moment respecting the meaning ; or who 
saw and who was seen. Even when English words are 
forced into a Latin arrangement, tfe distinction of 
nominative and accusative case is not wanted: 
" Arms and the man I sing." Here there is no 
change in man answering to virum, to denote its being 
the object of the verb ; and for the reason that such 
change is unnecessan 7 " in the noun the principal, it 
is unnecessary in the pronoun the substitute: arms 
and he I sing, is as intelligible and definite as arms 
and him I sing. The truth is, that notwithstanding 
many long-continued efforts to force English into a 
Latin structure, it retains so much of its own idiom, 
(or rather of its Gothic simplicity,) as to indicate 
what is nominative and what is accusative without 
the assistance of termination. For the same reason 
that different terminations were given to the Greek 
and Latin noun, it might be proper to give different 
terminations to the pronouns ; but for the same rea- 
son that English nouns have no accusative case, 
English pronouns ought to have none. In spite of 
all the efforts of grammaticlins, there are two of the 
pronouns which have still no change of termination ; 
namely, you and it. But is there any inconvenience 
attending their single form ? Is it not evident that 
this simplicity is an excellence rather than defect? 
It may be said, that me thinks, thee thinks, him 
thinks, them thinks are not grammatical, that is, not 
according to present usage; but: they are according 
to ancient usage, and it is unreasonable to interpose 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 149 

any arbitrary authority to establish distinctions which 
have no utility, and which tend only to embarrass 
and enslave English composers. 

This, indeed, is all so plain, that I shall leave the 
pronouns by showing first how they came to be so 
irregular, and secondly what they ought to be if 
rectified from all corruption and irregularity. It has 
been shown that / is a contraction ofick or ic, which 
is the same word as eek or eke, ge softened into be, 
me, &c. Mine is a corruption of meen ; thine of 
thouen or theen; he, him, she, her, it (formerly hit), 
are all varied spellings of the same word, which like 
the, this, thir, (Saxon and Scotch) was originally Cr. 
or Gr. &c. His, is a contraction of lies; our, is a 
a contraction of weer ; their, of they er ; your, of youcr. 
It has been sufficiently shown that er. and en. were 
usual affixes before they were softened into es. or 's. 

If our pronouns were according to the analogy of 
the language they would run thus: — / I's, or me 
me's ; thou thou's, or thee thee's ; he he's, or him hint's ; 
she she's, or her her 's ; it it's; wewe's; you you s; they 
thcy's, or them them's ; who who's, or which which' s. 
Persons who consult their eyes and ears more than 
their understanding would smile at such modes of 
speech ; and so would they at ' oxes instead of oxen; 
childs instead of children ; mans instead of men, &c. ; 
but instead of ridiculing foreigners and children, who 
in such instances follow the analogy of our language, 
they ought to blush at their own folly in pronouncing 
wrong right, and right wrong — consecrating corrup- 



loO PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

tions and defects into excellencies, that they may be 
perpetuated for ever. The truth is, had ignorant 
grammaticlins let our language alone, it would have 
been, in all probability, pretty regular, but they must 
legislate and Jix our speech ; and instead of freeing it 
from corruptions and irregularities, which is the pro- 
per office of special grammar, they have only endea- 
voured to render absurdity eternal. 

The reader will perceive, that though the gramma- 
tical laws which perpetuate irregularities are arbitrary, 
the irregularities themselves are not arbitrary: they 
are merely relics of what were regular terminations ; 
which relics were in the very act of passing away into 
a new regular form, when they were seized upon as 
suitable materials for the superstructure of an arbi- 
trary system of grammar. All that is aimed at in 
these remarks is,* to counteract absurd, despotic prin- 
ciples and rules : either let us have no grammatical 
laws, or let them be what all laws ought to be — rea- 
sonable and useful. It is manifest that all the rules 
given concerning the pronouns, are not only arbitrary 
but absurd ; and instead of serving any important 
purpose, only perplex and enslave. 



THE VERB CONSIDERED. 

It is said, " A verb is a word, which signifies to be, 
to do, or to Buffer;" and that " to a verb belong num- 
ber, person, mood and tense ;" every syllable of which 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 151 

is absurd. What is called a verb is not one word, but 
two or more words conjoined, and this is the whole 
mystery of the matter. Of any two nouns you may 
form what is called a verb : as, men hand, men foot, 
men mouth, men eye ; or by prefixing what are called 
pronouns : I hand, thou hand, he hand, we hand, 
you hand, they hand : I eye, thou eye, he eye, we 
e y e > y° u e y e 5 they eye, &c. 

Observe, every word called a verb is primarily as 
truly a noun as the instance above given ; but having 
been mummified or detached from the sensible object 
to which it belongs, by such variety of spelling and 
pronouncing as in hear, ear; mouth, meat, eat, &c. 
men in a kind of vacuo of perception have fancied and 
written wonderful metaphysical doctrines concerning 
grammar, rhetoric, logic, and such other matters as 
come under the superintendence of the god of mys- 
tery ; and such great philosophers as Dugald Stewart, 
have publicly rejoiced at the thought, that the ety- 
mology of many words is irrecoverably lost ; intimat- 
ing at the same time, that the true intellectual phi- 
losophy will never do any good till more words are 
mummified into eiegant expletives, or reduced to 
their true, spiritual, disembodied character; when, se- 
parated from all sensible objects, they will be mere 
abstract notions, or true metaphysical ghosts. 

It is always important to put down learned absur- 
dity ; and therefore before proceeding to the weightier 
considerations connected with the verb, I shall briefly 
notice the doctrine of Modes and Ibises, which though 



162 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

false, is in itself of so little consideration as not to 
merit much attention. We cannot expect significant 
and intelligible terms from the common multitude of 
grammarians, and therefore we must either put up 
with technical inanity, or neglect, all they say w it bout 
examination. I could never be certain what they 
meant by modes : if they mean that I love — I may 
love — love thou, &c. are different modes of expres- 
sion, conveying different meanings, it is all very 
true ; and withal so very evident, that every one who 
has eyes to see and ears to hear, ought to consider 
the putting of the information into a technical shape, 
as an insult not only to his sense but even to his 
senses : and when such terms as indicative, subjunc- 
tive and imperative make their appearance, there is ad 
the insolence of barefaced absurdity, in addition to 
the stupidity of sheer-nonsense. Is Indicative de- 
clarative ? But do not all words and modes of ex- 
pression declare ? I may love, is, if put into another 
form — I have power to love, which our profound 
grammarians would gravely assert to be two verbs, 
the one in the indicative — the other in the infinitive 
mode ! We may well say with Home Tooke, " If this 
be learning, give us back our Tom Thumb again/' But 
if indicative, subjunctive and infinitive, be not very in- 
telligible or very sensible, has not imperative real 
meaning? Is not hand me a newspaper a real com- 
mand ? What then is to be said to " Give us this day 
our daily bread"? Does the suppliant command his 
Maker ? This requires to be covered with metaphy- 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 153 

sical cobwebs or fine-spun nonsense. The plain truth 
is, that all such modes of expression are merely ab- 
breviations. " Give us this day our daily bread/' is, if 
the ellipsis be filled up — we pray that thou give— 
we beseech thee to give, &c. : hand me a chair, is, if 
the ellipsis be filled up — I command thee to hand — 
or, if the address be to a friend and equal — 1 request 
thee to hand me a chair. 

Concerning Tenses, the tongues of grammarians 
have been divided like true Babel-builders. Wallis 
and others have denied that there are any English 
Tenses, but the past and the present; Home Tooke 
denies that there is any present Tense ; but such 
wonderful grammarians as Lindley Murray, who are 
too great and profound for simplicity, have said that 
41 Tense being the distinction of time, might seem to 
admit only of the present, past and future ; but to 
mark it more accurately, it is made to consist of six 
variations, viz. the Present, the Imperfect, the Per- 
fect, the Pluperfect and the First and Second Future 
Tenses/' The reader will observe, that all this super- 
fluity of technical inanity is for the sake of marking 
more accurately ; for our grammatical foiks are men 
of wonderful accuracy : they think accurately and 
compose accurately ; but the German grammaticlins 
can beat them out and out at marking time accu- 
rately, for they have four Future Tenses. 

It has been sufficiently proved by Home Tooke, 
and indeed by Sanctius before him, that there is no 
present tense : it has been sufficiently proved by Wal- 



154 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

lis and others, that there is no future tense of Eng- 
lish verbs ; only, one proof worth all the rest (if I 
recollect rightly) they have overlooked ; which is, 
that shall and will, called signs of the future, have 
what is called the past form, the same as any other 
verb ; thus of shall is should (corruption of shalled) ; 
of will is would, a corruption of willed : that must be 
a singular sign of the future which becomes the sign 
of the past merely by affixing ed. Shall and will be- 
sides betokening futurity, have many wonderful 
properties of promising and threatening and fortel- 
ling in so exquisite a manner that no poor foreigner, 
and very few poor Scotchmen, can ever acquire the 
proper use of them ; which invincible difficulty is 
represented as a great excellence ; and one of the 
great grammarians of the age has lately published two 
or threescore of rules for the proper application of 
shall and will. I had purposed indeed to despoil 
these words of their mysterious import and fancied 
importance, by simplifying them into their real in- 
significance ; for it will be uniformly found, that 
wonderful words with much variety of signification 
and excellence are exactly like quack medicines 
which pretend to every thing while in fact they per- 
form nothing ; but it would take me too far from 
more important objects to hunt down all the remark- 
able qualities of shall and will; and therefore we 
must leave them for the present in the embrace of 
their fond admirers. 

Few who have thought on the subject will give 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 155 

much heed to the clamour of the grammatical mul- 
titude respecting tenses ; but it may be thought after 
all, that there is at least a past tense of some kind or 
other ; and therefore I shall briefly consider the 
modes of expression supposed to express past time. 
Have is the same word as habeo, resolvable into *p 
or IS, X s1 ?- &c. the hand ; had is a contraction of 
haved, which has as little direct connexion with 
time as the hand or any of its offices. Men fail into 
great mistakes by supposing associated or accidental 
ideas primary ones. The notion of past, present, or 
future time may be in many instances associated with 
the verb in consequence of the nature of the action 
or construction of the sentence ; but it does not iol- 
low that the notion of tense is expressed by the verb 
or strictly belongs to the verb. This case admits of 
speedy decision : the sign of what is called the past 
tense is ed. Does ed then express or imply any dis- 
tinction respecting time P None whatever ; as is 
evident from such instances as the following : crook- 
ed back ; crook backed ; locked jaw ; blighted corn, 
&c. It is manifest tliat in all such cases there is no 
notion of time either expressed or implied. It is 
true that the notion of past time is often associated 
with ed in the mind of the speaker, hearer, writer, 
or reader ; but that notion does not arise out of ed, 
but is as it were accidentally connected with it. 
When a person says, I heard — you think perhaps of 
past time ; because you have been accustomed to 
hear ed in such a construction as plainly indicates 



/ 



156 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

past time ; as, I heard yesterday— I heard last night 
— I heard last week — last year, &c. : you have the 
very same notion, however, without ed when the 
peasant says, I h$ar yesterday — I hear last night ; 
or without expressing the time, if it be understood 
from the connexion, oriflmayso express it, from 
the context of the discourse. * One of the fundamen- 
tal errors of grammarians and lexicographers is, that 
of attributing to one word the meaning which be- 
longs to two or more words in composition; for it 
is evident that there must be a meaning arising from 
composition which cannot possibly be expressed by 
words in their single, separate state ; yet from mis- 
taking this obvious truth arose the Babel of John- 
son's Dictionary. 

The termination ed means neither past time, nor 
activeness, nor passiveness : it is simply a conjunc- 
tive, like 21H ath, elk, ad, et, en, and (formerly 
the participial termination instead of ing) of all which 
it is merely a variety. What has been remarked of 
Chinese is in reality true of all languages : " The past 
tense is determined by its connexion with the rest 
of the sentence/' 

• Time, activeness and passiveness* are not expressed 
bv the termination mg t eth, ed, &c. for these are 



- Dr. Crombie has shown satisfactorily that the termination docs not 

express either activeness or passiveness : all his other remarks upon the 

verb are so metaphysically misty, vacuous and unreasonable, that to spare 

him and myself I have resolved to pass l>y them without particular 
uotic< . 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 157 

merely varieties of one and the same word ; but are 
deductions from concomitant circumstances in the 
nature of the things spoken of, and their relation to 
each other. What Home Tooke smys of en is equally 
true of ed, eth, ing, or any other conjunctive affix : 
" It merely puts the word to which it is affixed in a 
condition to be joined to some other word ; or ra- 
ther, gives us notice to expect some other word : this 
is the whole mystery of simple adjectives/' This is 
also the whole mystery of verbs and participles ; 
though Home Tooke denies it. " A participle (he 
says) is by no means the same with a noun adjective, 
as Sanctius Perizonius and others asserted." Sanc- 
tius and others were perfectly correct ; but it is un- 
accountable, or rather accountable for, only by sup- 
posing enquirers apt to overlook obvious truth, that 
they never saw the identity of what are called the 
personal terminations of the verb and the participial 
as well as simple adjective terminations. It was 
the obvious sameness of at, ant, and, &c. as in 
amat, amant, among, amant-is, amand-us, amat-us, 
&c. that first convinced me of the simple truth on 
this subject ; for I was sometime, like Heme Tooke, 
unwilling to believe that the much-talked-of, far- 
famed verb was nothing but a noun with an adjective 
or conjunctive affix ; which affix is so corrupted into 
various spelling and pronunciation as to seem, not 
one but many — not the same but totally different. 

There is so much mistiness, confusion and self- 
contradictoriness in what Home Tooke advances on 



15S PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

verbs and participles, as to induce a belief that he 
did not understand them ; and that he had many 
v. ighty reasons for destroying his third volume. I 
know not indeed a* hat to make of his statements on 
this part of his subject : one while they seem all 
light and simplicity ; another they are involved in 
impenetrable mistiness ahoV inextricable perplexity. 
Either his faculties must have been impaired when 
he came to verbs and participles, or he treated of 
them at different and remote periods ; for his state- 
ments concerning them are as different from each 
other as Mr. Home Tooke was from Mr Harris. 

He puts the question — whence comes edP and he 
seems to have found it a difficult question ; but he 
might as well have enquired whence come en, eth, 
and, ing, ic, &c. He found no difficulty with what 
he calls the simple adjective termination en ; for it 
was a word meaning add or join ; but he could not 
believe, it seems, that the verbal and participial ter- 
minations were merely varieties of this same word. 
This is the more remarkable as the obviousness of 
en or an as affixed to adjectives and to verbs was 
staring him in the face at every view of his subject. 
The truth is, Mr. Home Tooke's aversion to the 
doctrines of Harris seems in some instances to have 
misguided his understanding. Harris had said some 
words are merely joints, links, &c. of language \ 
J [orne Tooke did not frankly admit the fact, and do, 
what Harris could not do, explain the fact ; but set 
himself to work to oppose in every possible manner 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 159 

the statements of his grammatical predecessor. I 
suppose few authors are wholly free from such in- 
fluence : I confess myself to have experienced it ; 
and that nothing but love of truth, which has been 
ever dearer to me than my own opinions, could have 
kept me strictly just in judging and pronouncing on 
the merits of other writers. Every author is in this 
view zparty in the cause at issue, and has need to 
watch well his own heart, and to be well watched by 
readers and enquirers ; and as I wish to stand well 
with the judgment of the reader he will allow me the 
liberty in this place, of making a few remarks in re- 
ference to my strictures on different authors. It is 
with extreme regret that the nature of my subject 
obliges me to blame so much and to praise so 
little of what has been already written on philology; 
for whatever may be thought of my manner towards 
the insect-multitude of authors, no man can give 
praise and honour more freely and liberally than I 
do, to the choice few original thinkers whom the 
world, and especially England can boast. I can ne- 
ver speak of the great Verulum without expressing 
adoration rather than admiration ; and I never praise 
him without being better pleased with myself, and 
feeling as if I stood higher in the rank of intellect ; 
and in proportion to my joy at praising true philoso- 
phers is my pleasure in attempting to turn out vile 
intruders — contemptible idols from the temple of 
fame. The reader will please to observe that I have 
no personal knowledge of any one of the authors 



1G0 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

quoted and referred to in this work. He will admit, 
I presume, that if such grammar-makers as Lindley 
Murray* have a scornful glance in passing, it is quite 
as much as they are entitled to : in describing John- 
son's Dictionary as a Babei of absurdity, I have not 
only Home Tooke but all the best philologers of the 
three kingdoms on my side: indeed I should con- 
sider that man as having a weak, short-sighted un- 
derstanding, who after studying the subject would 
deny that Johnson was absolutely a blind lexicogra- 
pher. The reader will perhaps think Dugald Stew- 
art has been selected from the herd of living authors 
as a victim wherewith to consecrate Philosophic 
Etymology : his intellectual character does not fairly 
entitle him to that honour ; but he is a pretty com- 
poser and has a pretty number of readers ; he has 
giveli himself certain philosophical airs — he has 
talked contemptuously of the labours of Mr. Home 
Tooke, as below the dignity of philosophy ; and 
therefore a plain, blunt etymologer may take the 
liberty of putting the extinguisher or monk's hood 
on his shallow, misty notions. Dr. Crombie I wish 
to respect and conciliate, for I think he might be- 
come of very great importance to true philology ; and 
though my subject has obliged me to speak less 
highly of him than I wished to do, I have no hesita- 
tion in acknowledging, that he is a man of much 
more learning (1 mean learned reading and roting) 
than 1 can pretend to be. Mr. Home Tooke is uni- 
formly considered by me as the greatest and most 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 161 

philosophic philologer ; and I should be extremely 
sorry to represent him as not so great or philosophic 
as he really is ; for in proportion as contemporaries 
were unjust to his merits posterity ought to be ge- 
nerous to his memory. Perhaps I have forgotten 
some of the benefit derived from his labours ; and it 
is probable that had not his work preceded I should 
not have published on the same subject. If the 
friends of philology would encourage such a work, I 
should be glad to see an abridgment of the Diver- 
sions of Purley, such as the author himself would 
be likely to make, if it were possible for him to re- 
turn to the subject thirty years younger than when 
he left off. This is the most likely means of his la- 
bours being duly appreciated, and becoming exten- 
sively useful ; and none would rejoice more than the 
present author to find that the world ascertained 
how much, and in what respects it is indebted to 
Mr. Home Tooke. I have controverted some of his 
opinions, not to rob his memory of its merited- dis- 
tinction, but that error may not be perpetuated un- 
der the sanction of so great a name. But to return 
from this digression — 

We have seen that ed is as really a termination to 
adjectives and even to nouns as it is to verbs. The 
reason is, because it performs alike the same office 
wherever affixed or wherever placed ; being simply 
a conjunctive, like eth, en, at, ad, et, and, &c. of 
all which it is merely a variety. Thus : I handed 

M 



162 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

cup, thou handed cup, he handed cup ; I handeth 
cup, thou handeth cup, he handeth cup. Here ed 
and eth, which are in reality the same word, perform 
simply the office of -f, or sign of addition, indicating 
that hand is to be joined with cup : so in crooked 
back, ed indicates that crook joined with back gives 
the idea intended. 

Originally what is called the verb ran thus : I or 
me thinketh, thou or thee thinketh, he or him 
thinketh, we thinketh, you thinketh, they or them 
thinketh. This seems to have been pretty uniformly 
the manner down to the Norman period of our his- 
tory, as is evident from such instances as the fol- 
lowing : 

" Hevene and erthe he oversieth 
Mis eghen (eyes) bith full bright 
Sunne and mone and all sterren 
Bieth thiestre on his lihte, 
He wot huet thencheth and huet doth 
All quike wihte." 

Even so late as the time of Chaucer we find, me 
thinketh ; the (thee) nedith ; considereth thou ; 
looketh ye ; they loveth, &c. But as eth is of dif- 
ficult utterance, it began very early to be changed 
into en, es, est, et, ed, &c. In Sancta Magaretta, 
which was written, it is supposed, about the end of 
the twelfth century, we find eth, changed into et, it 
ed, en, &c. 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 163 

** Olde ant youge I preit ou oure soleif for to lete 
Thenchet on God that yef ou wit oure sunnes to bete 
Here may tellen ou wid wordes feire ant swete 
The vie of one meidan was hoten Maregrete," &c. 

The en, t, d, still continue in German instead of 
the old ath or eth : Ich lobe, I love ; du lobest, thou 
lovest ; er lobet, he loveth ; wir loben, we love ; ihr 
lobet, you love, sie loben, they love ; ich lobete, I 
loved ; du lobetest, thou lovedst ; er lobete, he loved; 
wir lobeten, we loved ; ihr lobetet, you loved ; sie lo- 
bete?!, they loved. 

Among the different forms into which ath or eth 
was varied, the parsons took a fancy to est for the 
second person singular (for I cannot find that it ever 
prevailed much but with them) ; and as they were 
the first grammar-makers it became the authorised 
form both in German and English. I suspect in- 
deed, that there was some imitation of mother Rome 
in this matter, as they thought it their duty to say 
after her ; and she had est and isli much in her 
mouth. But, however this be, it is observable that 
est, though recommended by the example of the 
clergy, (and usually, like priest like people) never 
became grammatical in Danish, Dutch and Scotch : 
ic leer, (Dutch) I learn ; gy leert, thou learns (Scotch) 
hy leert, he learns ; ic leerde, I learned ; gy leerde, 
thou learned (Scotch) ; hy leerde, he learned. 

Here the reader will perceive that both in Dutch 
and Scotch the terminations of the second and third 
person are alike ; and in what is called the past tense, 

m 9 



164. PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

the first, second, and third person are alike. The 
terminations of what is called the past tense of Eng- 
lish verbs are also alike ; except in the second per-- 
son singular, which by the help of the prayers of 
the monks has est affixed : as, 1 loved, thou lovedst, 
he loved, we loved, you loved, they loved. The 
reason of this regularity in what is called the past 
tense (with the exception of the parsonic est) will 
lead us naturally to the cause of the irregularity in 
what is called the present tense ; as also into the true 
nature of the difference between what is called the 
past and present. 

As Home Tooke justly remarks, it is in their ter- 
minations that words are most liable to be corrupted ; 
and this corruption is the chief cause, not only of 
grammatical, but metaphysical nonsense. The ter- 
mination ed in what is called the past tense, was de- 
fended by a kind of outwork — another termination. 
Originally what is called, in a kind of mockery of 
sense and significancy, the imperfect was I lovetheth, 
thou lovctheth, he lovethelh, we lovetheth, &c. ; which 
was softened into lovedeth, loveded, loveden, &c. ; 
and last of all it was contracted into loved and loven; 
but loved continued the general and regular form, and 
loven prevailed only as an anomaly. We have the 
anomaly in what is called the past participle of many 
verbs; as seen, instead of seed; known, instead of 
knowed. Such anomalies have been consecrated and 
perpetuated by a foolish, arbitrary, despotic system 
of grammar; forbad it not been for Wallis and the 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. \6d 

other blind adorers of established usage, our language 
would have righted itself from such irregularities. 
When foreigners, children and the vulgar, say seed, 
knowed, growed, they evidently speak more rationally 
than those who say seen, known, grown ; yet they 
must be ridiculed into an absurd mode of speech by 
a set of grammatical fools, who know no more of the 
true principles of language than blind men of colours. 
This is one of the great objections to arbitrary gram- 
mar; it boasts of fixing language; that is, in the 
manner of mother Rome from whom it was learned, 
it consecrates nonsense and folly into perpetual ido- 
latry ; irregularities which were casual and transitory 
it renders perpetual ; and all grammatical slaves must 
bow to the authority of established despotism ; and 
the poor roting, repeating things, are proud of their 
servitude and that they can say after the authorised 
custom, as good Catholic worshipers say after the 
priest. 

It has been remarked above, that what is called 
the past tense, was at one time lovetheth, lovedeth, 
loveden, &c. ; and the grammarians were groping and 
fumbling about the truth, though they knew not how 
to take it by the right handle, when talking in the 
usual style of technical inanity about imperfect, per- 
fect and pluperfect. Have, the same as haheo, (which 
is resolvable into cp, the hand,} becomes had, a con- 
traction of haved; and there is plainly a distinction 
among the following modes of expression : I have 
money — I haved money — I have haved money — I 



166 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

had had, or haved haved money. At one time it 
would have been : I haveth money — I havedeth mo- 
ney — haveth havedeth money — 1 havedeth havedeth 
money. It is evident enough that the only differ- 
ence between haveth the present, (as it is called) and 
havedeth or havetheth, (called the past) is, that the 
affix is in the latter instance doubled or repeated : eth 
we have seen is merely conjunctive, and therefore a 
thousand repetions of it would not properly express 
time, activeness, passiveness, or any of the attributes 
assigned to verbs : repetition can indicate nothing 
but emphasis ; and emphasis is usually employed to 
express ellipsis ; for in proportion as men speak 
elliptically, they must speak emphatically to excite 
attention ; for more attention is necessary to perceive 
what is implied than what is expressed. If I say, 
we meet at one o'clock noon, I do not employ any 
emphasis, because the expression is full and explicit; 
but if the sentence be put elliptically, emphasis is 
employed ; as — we meet at one. As emphasis is 
employed to express ellipsis, so it is also employed 
to express greatness, completeness, conclusion, &c. 
The following modes of expression will illustrate the 
foregoing remark : — We have had many grammatical 
absurdities repeated to us by the roting disciples of 
Greece and Home : we have had many, many gram- 
matical absurdities repeated to us over and over, or 
again and again by the roting disciples of Greece and 
Home. In the last mode of expression, the repeti- 
tions are intended to express more strongly the great- 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 1 67 

ness of the number of grammatical absurdities, and 
the multitude of times they have been published and 
republished, — stated and restated, or iterated and re- 
iterated. 

The reader will perceive, that it depends entirely 
on the nature of the case, what effect the repetition 
of a word has: a little, little man, — a long, long 
way, — he is dead, dead, — and similar expressions all 
proceed on the same principle ; but the first denotes 
very little, the second very long, and the third com- 
pletely dead. The question then is, as to the repe- 
tition of ed, (for we have seen that it is a contraction 
of etheth, eded, &c.) in connexion with the verb ; 
what was it intended to express ? Does it primarily 
and properly indicate ellipsis, completion, &c. ; or 
what does it indicate ? The absurdity of calling it 
imperfect tense is very obvious : past tense is not so 
absurd though equally untrue ; but perfect or con- 
cluded action, possession, passion, or what ever may 
be spoken of seems correct. I have money, may be 
called present possession ; I had (haved) money may 
be called past or terminated possession : I sell, may 
be called present action; I sold, (selled) may be 
called past or terminated action ; I have sold, I had 
[haved) sold, also express terminated action, only the 
first expresses it as more near, the second as more 
distant ; this nearness and distance seem to refer to 
time, which has occasioned all the grammatical non- 
sense about present, imperfect, perfect, and pluper- 
fect tenses ; for men are ever blundering into absur- 



168 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

dity by mistaking accessory for primary ideas. Every 
action must be performed at some time ; and it must 
also be performed in some place ; and therefore it 
would have been equally wise, or rather unwise to 
introduce some technical nonsense about place as 
about tense, I sell my estate this week, may be 
called present tense ; I sell my estate here, may be 
called present place ; I sold my estate yesterday, may 
be called past tense ; I sold my estate abroad, may 
be called distant or absent place of the verb ; I have 
sold my estate in my own house, may be called the 
perfect present place of the verb ; I had sold my 
estate in France, may be called the pluperfect place; 
and I sold my estate abroad may be called the im- 
perfect place, as no particular place is specified : all 
this would be very important, serving as good Lind- 
ley Murray says, to mark place and tense more accu- 
rately ; for the whole Babel-nostrum of arbitrary 
grammar was jumbled out of accurate thinking and 
accurate composition. 

I have said, that it seems accurate to call what is 
usually considered past tense, perfect or terminated 
action, &c. ; but there are modes of expression in 
which the ed cannot be considered as denoting ter- 
minated action ; as, had I an estate I would not sell 
it — did I possess an estate I would not part with 
it : nor is the affix indispensably necessary to the 
indicating of past or terminated action, passion, pos- 
ition, &c. When the peasant says, " I si many 
jolks in London," or " I see a fine fo* yesterday/' the 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 169 

meaning is obviously the same as if he had said, I 
seed many folks in London — I seed a fine fox yester- 
day ; when a boy, I hear people talk much of the 
American war, is the very same meaning as when a 
boy, I heard people talk much of the American war : 
ed affixed to hear, is exactly like an affixed to Ame- 
rica, but as the junction is so obviously implied as 
to be understood, the sign of it is not absolutely ne- 
cessary ; as, when a boy, I Agar people talk much of 
the America war : here both ed and an (or en), are 
omitted without any detriment to the sense ; so that 
though in some instances the affix may subserve the 
purpose of ellipsis, it is in general superfluous and 
useless, rather than important and necessary. 

It has been repeatedly remarked, that eth or ath, 
&c. was originally affixed to what is called the verb, 
with all the pronouns, without any distinction ; and 
this was long the only termination, not only to all the 
persons but to all the tenses, (as grammarians choose 
to speak) of the verb ; in other words, the verbal 
termination, being like simple adjective and partici- 
pial terminations, primarily and properly conjunctive, 
had no variety of form answering to what has been 
subsequently called the sign of the past tense, or by 
some rather more rationally past action. We have a 
few relics of ancient usage in such words as quoth, 
(softened into saith,) ought, [pweth or rather ogeth,) 
must, (softened from might or mageth,) which are said 
to be both past and present tense ; and let it be ob- 
served, that though such words be called defective, 



170 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

there is no inconvenience or loss of meaning arising 
from their supposed defectiveness. It cannot be too 
often repeated that superfluous variety and copia are 
faults, not excellencies. Simplicity may be consi- 
dered poverty by perverted understandings, but it is 
always of great utility, and to true judges it always 
possesses beauty and dignity ; nor can philology be 
rightly understood without stripping language of all 
superfluous parts, and considering what parts are ab- 
solutely necessary to express meaning ; not to men- 
tion how important this is to true philosophy : insect 
understandings are always entangled among insignifi- 
cant parts and particles of speech. I have said that 
eth was originally affixed to all the persons and tenses 
of the verb : of this the following quotations from the 
Saxon version of the Gospels supply abundant proof. 

" Tha cuaeth se engel ingangende. Hal wes thu 
mid gyfe gefylled. Drihten mid the. thu eart geblet- 
sud on wifum. Se bith maere. and thaes hehstan 
sunu genemned. and him sylth Drihten God his 
faeder Davides setl. And he ricsath on ecnesse on 
Jacobes huse. And his rices ende ne bith. Tha 
cuaeth Maria to than! engle. hu gewyrth this forth am 
ic were ne oncnawe. Tha answarode hyre ge engel. 
So halga Gast on the becymth. and thaes heahstan 
miht the ofersceadath. and fortham that, halige the 
of the acenned. bith Godes sunu genemned." 

The same passages are thus translated by Wick- 

up. 

" And the aungel nitride toliir and seyde, heil ful 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 171 

of grace the Lord be with thee: blessid be thou 
among wymmen. 

" This shall be gret : and he schal be clepid the 
sone of higheste, and the Lord God schal geve to him 
the seete of Davith his fadir. And he schal regne 
in the hous of Jacob withouten ende. And Marye 
seyde to the aungel, on what maner schal this thing 
be don ? for y knowe not man. And the aungel 
answerde and seyde to hir, the Holy Gost schal come 
fro above into thee : and the vertu of the higheste 
schal over schadowe thee : and therefore that holy 
thing that schal be borun of thee : schal be clepide 
the sone of God." 

The reader will perceive that in these translations 
d and th are interchanged in the same word : the 
Saxon version spells David as we do ; WicklifFe 
spells it Davith. This interchange of th and d seems 
plainly all the difference that obtains in the verbal 
affix of the Saxon version. The reader will also per- 
ceive that cuceth is employed where WicklifFe uses 
seyde, and where we would employ said; and where 
WicklifFe says : " This shall be gret," the Saxon ver- 
sion has it : " Se bith maer ;" he shall reign is : " he 
ricsath, &c. ;" as if we were to write he reigneih. 

We find the same mode of speech in Codex Ar- 
gent um : what is in our translation ye shall eat, — ye 
shall drink, &c. is there majaiih, drigkaith. We 
find also th interchanging with d in the same words ; 
that is, it was pronounced and spelt both ways : 
uitoth is sometimes witoda ; haubith, haubida; faths, 



172 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

fadis : the same interchange appears in every page of 
the Durham Book, and indeed throughout language 
in general. 

It has been remarked, that at one time what is 
called the past tense was etheth, edeth, eded, eden, 
&c. ; and in German such reduplication still obtains: 
er lobet, he loveth ; wir loben, we love ; ihr lobet, 
you love ; sie loben, they love ; wir lobeten, we loved ; 
ihr lobetet, you loved ; sie lobeten, they loved. Here 
it is plain that the affix is merely doubled in lobetet ; 
nor can one of these affixes be meant primarily to 
distinguish the plural from the singular, for the third 
person singular and the second person plural, in what 
is called the present tense, are precisely the same, 
being both lobet. 

I have intimated that though such reduplication 
of the conjunctive affix may subserve an elliptical 
or abridged mode of expression in some instances, 
yet it is after all superfluous rather than necessary 
and important ; and 1 have had my doubts whether 
it was not originally introduced accidentally and 
blunderingly, rather than intentionally and judicious- 
ly. This is plainly the case with such words as e?i- 
lighten, in which the conjunctive is both prefixed 
and postfix ed, and which is unnecessarily and tauto- 
logically put several times in enlighteneth, enlighten- 
edst ; for we have frequently repeated that en is a 
smoother form of ed ; and that ed is a smoother form 
oft///; which is also softened into est, ct, &c. In 
proportion a? words, and especially particles, and 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 173 

affixes become insignificant, they are ever liable to 
be too often repeated and too much crowded in com- 
position ; but there is another origin of the redupli- 
cation of affixes ; which is the affectation of imita- 
ting Greek and Latin, and indeed any dialect which 
it may be the fashion to admire : thus we have many 
French and Latin affixes grafted upon our own na- 
tive terminations, though the one are merely varie- 
ties of the other : such Latin grafts making double 
terminations abound in the Gothic and Saxon trans- 
lations (especially Monkish ones) of Greek and La- 
tin : as bidjandans (Codex Argentum) which has the 
Latin participial termination superadded to the Goth- 
ic termination, as if we were to say begginging. Ma- 
ny such instances might be given from Saxon wri- 
ters, especially translators ; and it is observable that 
the Saxon writings which are not translations have 
much simplicity in their terminations, and very few 
superfluous or double affixes. This will appear from 
the following quotation : 

" Ic am elder thanne ic was 
A vvintre and ec a lore 
Ic ealdi more thanne ic dede, 
My wit oghte to bi more. 

" Se that hine selve vorget 
Vor wive other vor childe, 
He sal comen on evele stede 
Bute God him bi milde. 

" Ne hopie wif to hire were 
Ne were to his wive, 



174 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY, 

Bi for him selve evrich man 
Thaer wile he bieth alive. 

" Evrich man mid that he haveth. 
May beggen heveriche, 
Se the lesse and se the more 
Here aider iliche. 

" Hevene and erthe he oversieth 
His eghen bith ful bright, 
Sunne and mone and alle sterren 
Bieth thiestre on his lihte. 

" He wot huet thencheth and huet doth 

AH quike wihte 

Nis no loverd suieh is Xist, 

Ne no king suich is drihte. 

" Hevene and erthe and aile that is 
Biloken is on his honde, 
He delh al that his w;Ile is 
On sea and ec on londe. 

" He is orde albuten orde 
And ende albuten ende, 
He one is evre on eche stede 
Wendt wei thu wende. 

" He is buuven us and binethen 
Bivoren and ec behind, 
Se man that godes will deth 
Hie mai hine aihwar vinde. 

u Eche rune ht ihereth 
And wot eche dede ; 
11 < thurh sigtii echea ithanc 
Wai huat sel us to rede. 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 17^ 

" Se mam nevre nele don god 
Ne nevre god lif leden, 
Er deth and dom come to his dure 
He mai him sore adredeu. 

" Lovie God mid ure hierte 
And mid all ure mihte, 
And ure emcristene suo us self 
Suo us lereth drihte. 

" Sume ther habbeth lesse mergthe 

And sume ther habbeth more, 

Ech efter than that he dede 

Efter that he suanc sore." < 

This is not amiss for Monkish rhyme ; and if bar- 
ber ed into the smoothness of present usage it might 
actually take precedence of the poesies of this won- 
derfully poetic, clinkam clanlmm generation. I shall 
subjoin a few lines from the Saxon Chronicle. 

" This gaere for the King Stephne ofer sae to Nor- 
mandi. and ther wes underfangen forthi that hi wen- 
den that he sculde ben alsuic alse the eom wes. and 
for he hadde get his tresor. ac he todeld it and sca- 
tered sotlice. Micel had Henri king gadered gold 
and sylver. and na god ne dide me for his saule war 
of. Tha the King Stephne to Engla — land com tha 
macod he his gadering aet Oxen — ford, and thar he 
nam the biscop Roger of Seres — beri. and Alexander 
biscop of Lincoln, and te Canceler Roger hire neves, 
and did selle in prisun til hi jafen up here castles. 
Tha the suikes undergaeton that he milde man thas 
and softe and god. and na justice ne dide, tha didden 



176 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY, 



hi all wunder. Hi hadden him manred maked and 
atlies suoren. ac hi nan treuthe ne heolden. alle he 
waeron for — suoren. and here treothes for — loren. for 
aevric rice man his castles makete and agaenes him 
heolden and fylden the land full of castles. " 

In this Chronicle there are some double termina- 
tions, as in fylden : the reader will perceive that the 
conjunctive affix is sometimes ed, od, et, and some- 
times en, on, &c. ; as maked, macod, makete, heol- 
den, undergaelon. The reader will perceive also that 
eth had, when this Chronicle was written, begun to be 
often omitted in what is called the present tense. 
This will appear more evident from the following 
quotation : 



" Fur in see bi west spaynge 
Is a lond ihote cokaynge 
Ther nis loud under hevenriche 
Of wel of godnis hit iliche 
Thoy paradis be miri and briyt 
Lokaygn is of fairer siyt, 
What is ther in paradis 
Bot grasse and flure and greneris 
Beth ther no men but two 
Hely and Enok also 
Clinglich may hi go 
Whar ther wonitk men no mo 
Ok al is game ioi ant gle 
Wel is him that ther mai be 
Ther beth rivers great and fine 
Of oile melk honi and wine, 
Watir scrvith ther to nothing 
Hot to siyt and to waussing." 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. \77 

In the above quotation the eth is dropped, except 
in those words distinguished by italics; and after 
much enquiry on the subject I have been inclined to 
believe that ed in what is called the past tense, and 
past participle, is merely a softened form of eth, re- 
gularly put in the ancient manner after all the pro- 
nouns. In ordinary speech when referring to present 
circumstances the affix was frequently dropped ; but 
when speaking of past or terminated action, as in 
writing history, &c. the more formal manner of ex- 
pression was used — the affix was preserved. 

Another plausible origin indeed might be assigned 
to ed ; and if Dr. Crombie would promise to instruct 
me into the true nicities and importance of Latin 
synonimes, I would help out one of his notions at a 
dead lift. I often wonder indeed how people can see 
half way into the nature of subjects without being 
conscious that they have not seen far enough, and 
without fearing to give their half views to the pub- 
lic. The possessive case of nouns, Dr. Crombie says, 
seems to be a contraction of his — well but where did 
5 come from in his or he's ; what is it a contraction of? 
That he did not enquire ; so he says " the termination 
ed in regular preterites appears to be a corruption of 
the word did/* Knowing, however, that the origin 
of ed in did itself had puzzled a great philologer, Dr. 
Crombie could not but notice the difficulty, and 
therefore he adds : " It is indeed true, observes Mr. 
Tooke, that it is not easy on this hypothesis to ac- 
count for the formation of did from doed ; for if did 



178 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

be a contraction for doed, whence comes the termi- 
nation ed ? To derive ed in other cases from did is 
easy and natural ; but this leaves us ignorant still of 
the primitive word ; for the question returns, whence 
comes ed? This indeed is a difficulty not easily re- 
moved ; for instead of supposing that did was sub- 
joined to the noun to express past action, and that 
did is an abbreviation for doed, erf being added to 
denote the completion of the act, we may as easily 
suppose that ed and not did was likewise subjoined 
to other verbs for the same purpose. What this ter- 
mination originally meant we may conjecture, but 
I apprehend shall not be able to ascertain/' 

Upon my faith this is a monstrous clever, conve- 
nient way of writing. An opinion respecting ed is 
first brought forward in support of a theory concern- 
ing the verb ; but finding the supposed origin of ed 
beset with difficulties, the author gravely tells the 
reader, that the whole matter may be conjectured but 
shall never be ascertained. This is the manner in 
which that great Professor, Dugald Stewart, handles 
his Philosophy of the Mind ; whose principles, laws, 
phenomena, &c. &c. are all perfectly familiar to 
him ; only he is ever and anon informing the reader 
that they may be conjectured but can never be ascer- 
tained. The doctrine of mystery and incomprehen- 
sibility is, after all, the best means of resisting scep- 
tical philosophy ; and withal it vouchsafeth princely 
protection to superficial, dabbling authors ; for when 
they cannot, or will not, go to the bottom of a sub- 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 179 

ject, they have only to aver that it is bottomless. 
As for the Professor of Intellectual Philosophy I 
have no notion that he will ever ascertain any thing 
respecting the laws and phenomena of either mind 
or matter ; but I am unwilling that Dr. Crombie 
should abandon philological enquiry in a fit of de- 
spair, and shall put him in the way of finding an origin 
to ed if he be not satisfied with that already given. 

It has been remarked in a preceding part, that one 
mode of expressing completed or terminated action, 
&c. is repetition ; and it is well known that there is 
a repetition of the radical word in what is called the 
perfect of all Greek verbs, and of many Latin verbs : 
thus do becomes dedi ; and the Latin do is the 
very same word as our do. As the Latin do is 
doubled into dedi in the preterite, why could not 
Mr. Home Tooke and Dr. Crombie have thought 
that did is merely do doubled ? They might have 
perceived that did was formerly spelt dede ; and 
what would have served still more to relieve their 
perplexity, they might have found instances not only 
of did preceding what is called the verb, but affixed 
to it like any other termination ; thus the Gothic 
verb hans, which is generally hauseith (in Codex Ar- 
gentum), is also found hausidedeth, you did hear ; 
rendered in our translation, ye have heard. 

Home Tooke has said that to (commonly called 
the sign of the infinitive) is the same as do, and that 
to love is merely do love, &c. ; he has not attempted, 
however, to explain what the verbal affix eth or th is ; 

n2 



180 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

but if he had looked a little further he would proba- 
bly have been of opinion that the Hebrew ath, the 
Gothic aih, than, the German thun, our own affix 
eth, as well as do, to, &c. &c. are all primarily but 
one word ; which being of extensive import, is like 
all similar words, frequently employed, much cor- 
rupted and mummified in many of the connexions 
where it usually occurs. It is surprising that in put- 
ting the question, whence comes the ed, he should 
not have thought of enquiring whence comes the 
eth ; especially as he was sufficiently acquainted 
with our ancient literature to know that this affix 
was put after all the pronouns without any differ- 
ence. He has noticed the obvious fact, that when 
do is employed the affix disappears : as he doth love 
— not he doth loveth ; I did love, not did loved. 
This was calculated to convince him that do, and 
eth, &c. were at least equivalent if not the same 
word. 

I have treated more prolixly (though I hope not 
unprofitably) of what is called the preterite than I 
intended ; and I hope my manner of treating it will 
convince the reader that I have no favourite theory 
to advance or defend : my first wish is to put down 
technical nonsense and learned absurdity ; my se- 
cond to explain the nature of language in its real 
simplicity and intelligibleness ; and therefore I have 
given different views of the preterite, because each 
of them is likely to assist the understanding of the 
enquirer; though in fact the seemingly different 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 1S1 

origins assigned to it are resolvable into one; and I 
care not by what handle the truth be taken provided 
it be apprehended. It is important to put down ab- 
surd doctrines ; but it is yet more important to put 
down arbitrary rules and despotic laws — therefore I 
proceed to the main object of my purpose in this 
part of my work. 

The system of arbitrary Syntax rests on the foun- 
dation of absurd distinctions respecting pronouns and 
verbs : the pronouns have been already treated of ; 
verbs are now to be considered in reference to the 
grammatical rules beginning with, " A verb must 
agree with its nominative in number and person ; 
as, I love, thou lovest, he loveth, or loves/* Here 
it is evident that this and all the other rules con- 
nected with the verb could have no existence but 
for est, eth or es, and the irregularities of what is 
called the verb substantive : they are therefore mere- 
ly foolish observances ordained for the sake of a few 
relics of ancient usage ; for it has been proved that 
eth was originally affixed to what is called the verb, 
after all the pronouns, or in connexion with any no- 
minative. It is evident that the affix ought to be 
uniformly preserved as anciently, or uniformly omit- 
ted ; or left wholly free, as it was before the present 
arbitrary system of grammar was established. Could 
it be proved that est in connexion with thou, and eth 
or es, in connexion with he, she or it, exclusively 
served any useful purpose ; — that they are necessary 
to express meaning ; it would be very proper to pro- 



182 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

tect and perpetuate them by grammatical laws. But 
instead of being useful, they are worse than useless ; 
serving only to perplex and enslave the English 
speaker or writer. How often is the most ready and 
accurate composer embarrassed by the petty, trouble- 
Some laws of English grammar ! How often is he 
obliged to throw his sentence into another form — a 
form less natural and agreeable to the idiom of the 
English language, merely to avoid what is considered 
ungrammatical expression ! How much idle con- 
troversy and useless discussion are constantly kept 
up among insect critics respecting proper grammar ! 
One will have, " the meeting has/' another, " the 
meeting have," to be the proper mode. It might 
have been expected that the Babel-jargon of professed 
grammar-makers would have brought their silly doc- 
trines and rules into contempt : for it is necessary to 
read only a few pages of the grammars that have been 
published to be convinced, that the whole is not only 
much ado about nothing, but much ado about non- 
sense. I will not insult my readers by referring them 
to the silly, simpering pages of Lindley Murray ; let 
them take up the grammar of Dr. Crombie, or that 
of Wallis, and every sentence will convince them of 
what I am stating. 

I hope, indeed, that Dr. Crombie will not again 
hazard the reputation of his understanding, by saying 
/ love and he loves are right grammar, merely because 
they hare the sanction of present usage ; and that / 
loves, he love, would have beeu right and the other 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 183 

wrong, if such had chanced to be custom or usage. 
If he respect himself he shall have my respect as 
frankly as my strictures ; but if any consideration 
whatever can induce him to republish such silly non- 
sense, shrouded in senseless, school-boy quotations 
from Latin authors, and to endeavour to perpetuate 
grammatical absurdity and despotism, he must expect 
to be treated accordingly. Such learned and philoso- 
phic authorities as Lindley Murray, may soar above 
the notice of the present author ; but he will certainly 
look after such authors as Dr. Crombie, nor shall 
even new school-puffs, under the old name of gram- 
mar, be suffered to keep up the farce about present 
usage. 

It has been repeatedly intimated that language is 
constantly becoming more abridged or elliptical pro- 
vided there be no arbitrary or despotic laws to the 
contrary. This elliptical process is an advantage to 
language, when it does not cause obscurity, indefi- 
niteness or equivocalness. It saves time and labour 
like short-hand writing ; it gives force and spirit to 
language ; for the more ideas that can be crowded 
into few words, the more forceful is composition 
rendered : and as Home Tooke has justly remarked, 
"An abridged mode of speech is like a map on a reduced 
scale, which enables us to take in many particulars 
and important relations at one view, that would 
wholly escape our notice if spread over a large or 
extended surface." 

This tendency to improvement is prevented by 



184 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

arbitrary grammar, which boasts of fixing language; 
and it is hardly possible for an original, striking and 
powerful writer to arise when a false and foolish sys- 
tem of grammar has been established. I know of no 
dialect in which arbitrary grammar is so despotic as 
the French ; and there is no composition so poor, 
subdued and enslaved as French composition. It is 
essentially conventional and common-place : every 
word must be intelligible, not from its own significa- 
tion, but from its previous application : it must be 
applied in the established, authorised manner. The 
poor composer must consult chiefly if not solely pre- 
cedent and authority ; and dangle gracefully as page 
of honour after established usage. 

The same cause may be expected to produce the 
same effects in Britain as in France : since arbitrary 
grammar began to become despotic in the English 
language, English compositions have become pro- 
gressively poor and tame ; all wearing the uniform of 
despotism — the badge of servitude — decent debility, 
polished insignificance. It were as vain indeed to 
expect a Shakespear or a Bacon to arise in this age, 
(unless, indeed, as ought to be supposed — another 
Shakespear or Bacon would set all the petty ordi- 
nances ofpetits maitres at defiance), as to look for the 
qualities of freedom in the bosom of slavery. Critic- 
lings may drawl and drivel as much, and as long as 
they choose about the earliest authors being most 
original; but here is the whole mystery: the early 
authors of every people are free and bold — the later 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 185 

writers are timorous babies in leading-strings, with 
their eye upon old grandmother precedent and grey- 
bearded authority ; — poor puny grammatical slaves 
afraid of the lash of criticism for offending against 
etiquette ; — mere Belles Lettres things, happy to es- 
cape grammatical and rhetorical censure, and supreme- 
ly blessed if they can finger up, or arrange words into 
such soft, smooth, pretty, insignificant composition 
as that of Dr. Blair or Dugald Stewart. It is in this 
view chiefly that I would oppose arbitrary grammar ; 
for in this respect it is far more mischievous than one 
can easily convince persons, who have never thought 
clearly and deeply on the subject. If it merely con- 
cerned the surface of composition as many suppose ; 
— if it did not involve great intellectual questions, I 
would have disdained to treat of grammar. 

There has been much boasting of fixing the lan- 
guage : but is there any advantage resulting from 
fixing imperfection and establishing absurdity ? Must 
corruptions and anomalies be set up as idols to be 
reverenced by all generations ? Must insignificant 
particles be consecrated into elegant expletives, that 
grammatical composition may be rendered a difficult 
and rare attainment ? Had it not been for a blind, 
superstitious reverence of Greece and Rome, men 
could have never adopted such foolish, slavish opi- 
nions respecting language as those which have so long 
prevailed. In what is commonly called a classical 
education, their is neither reasonableness nor reason- 
ing, but a blind following of precedent and authority : 



186 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

there is no studying of what language ought to be, to 
answer the real purposes of speech, but merely what 
it has been. Can our roting, repeating scholar make 
Latin as Cicero made it ? Then he is truly classical — 
quite Ciceronian. Does he put insignificant words 
classically together into misty, vacuous composition ? 
Oh ! they are all elegant expletives — beautiful tauto- 
logies — College mummies that were brought from 
Egypt to Greece — from Greece to Rome, and care- 
fully gathered up by the modern Literati out of the 
rubbish of antiquity that no classical fragment might 
be lost. Does the classical roter make bad sense ? 
That is nothing — he makes good Latin — his compo- 
sition is pure, correct, elegant, and he can bring an- 
cient, established classical usage for every word and 
the application of every word to be found in his 
learned vacua. 

This is a subject of infinite importance, which will 
require to be treated both seriously and ludicrously 
at much length, before the seroum pecus can be con- 
verted into rational creatures. I merely notice it here 
as connected with the arbitrary grammar, which, out 
of slavish compliment to Greece and Rome, has been 
established in the English language. It is surprising 
that so few should have perceived how destructive of 
intellect the prevailing classical system of education 
is ; or rather that so few should have had courage to 
avow their conviction respecting classical absurdity 
and idolatry. Except Bacon and I lobbes, I know 
not that any authors of high rank have ventured to 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 187 

question the importance or utility of the learning, 
which has so long stunned the world with the noise 
of its pretensions ; but sure it does not require the 
solid learning or philosophic sagacity of a Bacon or a 
Hobbes to perceive the ignorance, nonsense, folly, 
and dwarfifying tendency of the kind of learning 
which has been so much boasted of by brain- 
less pedants. Let them rote and repeat (like classical 
parrots and learned echoes), after those profound 
thinkers and original, definite, powerful writers Vir- 
gil and Horace, Caesar and Cicero, and they strut 
along as majestically as pages of honour to high per- 
sonages ; — let them rehearse with awe profound, the 
names and deeds of Greece and Rome, enlarged by 
the mistiness of uncertain history, or rendered sub- 
lime by the darkness of classical mystery ; — let them 
experiment with their Greek or Latin vacuum, and 
they appear wonderfully dignified, learned and phi- 
losophic beings ; — princely alchymists capable of turn- 
ing even the dross of Cicero into rhetorical gold, and 
of enriching all generations with their microscopic 
criticisms and dull researches : withal, they can di- 
versify English composition as strikingly as a harle- 
quin's jacket, with Latin patches which have been 
often clipped off and often stitched on in some new 
piece of literary patch-work : if you attempt to reason 
them into a more rational, less classical way of think- 
ing, they will spit learned quotations in your face, 
(aiming at the eyes no doubt) ; which quotations 
have been digested into the very quintessence of 



1SS PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

classical spittle ; for though they never went the way 
of other digested matter, they have been often swal- 
lowed into classical memories and as often thrown 
up again ; as if the classical interior were so pregnant 
with original conception, as to keck at its ordinary 
food and even its choice cordials, sovereign remedies 
and patent medicines. Some of the favourite morsels 
of learned roters are manifestly more reluctant to 
stay upon the stomach than others ; for they come 
more frequently up again. Whether this be a recom- 
mendation of them, as choice, excellent, fresh, well- 
flavoured and nutritious, may be a grave question. 
As Bacon is of opinion, that the stream of time has 
floated down to us only the light scum of ancient 
learning ; perhaps the reader will think them the 
most frothy particles of learned scum that float, and 
whirl, and bubble most actively on the shallow 
stream of modern, classical composition : one of these 
classical bubbles is 



us us 



" Quem penes arbitrium est et jus et norma loquendi." 

Dr. Crombie, imitating high authorities, is not con- 
tent with setting his boys to blow this bubble from 
their repeating mouth, and then dance after it in 
foolish admiration, but actually blows it with his 
own mouth in the face of the public ; as if a single 
classical puff would do the business of convincing 
his readers that there is no sense or reasonableness in 
grammar; and that the whole is merely an affair of 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 189 

custom. But after all, it is a pity to waste classical 
air in this lavish manner ; for no sensible person can 
want learned quotations from such great authorities 
as Horace, to convince him, that arbitrary grammar 
is wholly senseless and unreasonable. Let him read 
Dr. Crombie's Grammar, and I will stake my exist- 
ence on the question, that he will be fully satisfied 
without Latin quotations, that there is neither rea- 
son, reasoning, nor reasonableness in the business. 

The reader must not suppose that my object is to 
ppur contempt on Dr. Crombie : my sole object is to 
expose the contemptibleness of the vulgar, learned 
notions respecting language : as for the above author 
so often quoted and confuted, I question if all the 
Colleges of England, Scotland and Ireland, clubbed 
into one grand University or great Alma Mater , would 
contain a more respectable thinker or philosophic 
scholar : and as to what college men call learning, if 
I may venture to give a judgment, he is superior to 
most of them : had he been less eminent in this way, 
it is probable that he would have been more eminent 
as a philologer, and I shall not say metaphysician , but 
philosopher. It is a superstitious reverence of Greece 
and Rome, that befools scholars on learned questions 
and renders so many learned men mere intellectual 
babies — always roting and repeating — never thinking 
or enquiring. It is impossible that a man of so much 
strength of mind as Dr. Crombie seems to be, on 
some questions, should have backed silly nonsense 
about usage, with a silly, school-boy quotation from 



190 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

Horace, were it not that in one respect he has never 
been any thing but a school-boy ; — always accustomed 
to classic roting and repeating ; and as Hobbes justly 
remarks, " Men think least upon the meaning of those 
words which they have roted most perfectly, and 
which they can repeat most fluently." 

Every reader, worth convincing, is already convinced, 
that the whole system of arbitrary grammar is fool- 
ishly absurd ; and that instead of perpetuating cor- 
ruptions and irregularities by despotic rules, language 
should be so rectified into regularity as to require no 
rules of syntax. Such reform as to the English lan- 
guage might be very easily and very speedily accom- 
plished with very little violence even to habit, cus- 
tom or present usage. So far as the verb is concerned 
we have only to throw away the useless, troublesome 
affix, in what are called the second and third person 
singular of the present tense ; — to adopt the ed regu- 
larly in what is called the past tense, and to employ 
our copula be, which has not been spoiled by any 
variety of spelling and pronunciation, instead of am, 
art, is, are. True, this slight change will seem odd, 
strange and awkward, (important words in the voca- 
bulary of squeamish ears and finical minds,) at first ; 
but try them for a week or two, and you will 
get used to them, and then they will rest on the firm 
foundation of present usage : they will be as agreeable 
and familiar to you as any of your intimate acquaint- 
ances. Let me persuade and entreat you, as reason- 
able beings, to consult your own ease and convenience, 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 191 

as well as the ease and convenience of your children 
after you ; and to choose that mode of speech which is 
the most rational, and custom will make it the most 
pleasant. I wish not to put down usage, but to exalt 
and establish it on the throne of wisdom ; and then 
I will say after Horace as devoutly as any of the 
classical congregation 



usus 



" Quem penes arbitrium est et jus et norma loquendi." 

And as a proof that I am not given to change good 
custom, I will put the classical Amen to it, esto per- 
petua. 

But who will venture to depart from established 
usage, and approved practice, and grammatical sanc- 
tion ? This is the all-powerful argument. The prin- 
ciples, spirit and dialect of slaves have, especially in 
literary concerns, (for I would not imitate Home 
Tooke in mingling Politics with Philology,) grown- 
up into established usage. This we owe to a silly 
affectation of foolish, slavish, French and Italian 
literature, and the abject prostration of classical 
understandings, (I ought, perhaps, to say memories,) 
to ancient precedents and authorities. The systems 
of grammar, rhetoric, &c. so plentifully published 
within the last hundred years, are to be considered as 
containing the forms and arrangements of etiquette, 
made by petits maitres to direct the petty multitude 
how to bow to arbitrary authority. We have now in 
the true French manner, the despotism of fashion — 



192 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

the despotism of taste — the despotism of grammar, 
&c. : all is despotism on the one hand, meanness and 
slavishness on the other : every thing must be in the 
set form — the authorised manner. 

An humble individual cannot hope by himself to 
accomplish much reform in language ; but he may have 
the satisfaction of attempting even what he cannot 
perform ; and if it were only in contempt of absurdity 
and spite to despotism, I shall glory in setting all 
the petty ordinances of arbitrary grammar at defiance, 
and in violating all the unreasonable precepts of esta- 
blished usage ; and if only two or three original, bold 
writers would arise to assist in putting down gram- 
matical nonsense, I should not despair of establishing 
another kind of usage than that which has prevailed. 

It may be asked — would you have no grammar 
taught in our seminaries ? Most certainly I would 
have grammar taught; for there can be little profit- 
able learning without it ; but then it should be ra- 
tional grammar, which is so important as to have 
been justly pronounced by a philosophic philologer, 
The first step to true wisdom. The philosophical study 
of language has, indeed, been strangely neglected ; and 
1 really question if a dozen persons could be found in 
all the seminaries of the three kingdoms, better ac- 
quainted with philosophic grammar than Dr. Crombie. 
The technical absurdities of arbitrary grammar are 
familiar enough in theroting memories and repeating 
mouths of all our learned and learning masters and 
misses, great and small, (for this is the age of liberal 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 193 

education and minute accomplishments) ; and they 
can all talk profoundly about the Belles Lettres ; for 
they have not only Lindley Murray by heart — they 
can say after that great master of rhetorical ceremo- 
nies Dr. Blair, as fast as he said after the great Quinti- 
lian, or any of his worthy disciples the French Bel- 
les-lettreists. They all know how coarsely and clum- 
sily English writers composed before true taste and 
true fashion came in at the Restoration of the ever- 
blessed Charles the Second, when legitimacy took 
possession of her throne. They can all show how 
badly those authors have written, who have attempted 
to express any original thinking. The perspicacious, 
intuitive Dugald Stewart, for instance, who has a 
profound acquaintance with words and notions, has 
discovered that Burke made bad grammar and bad 
rhetoric ; that to say, " handle a subject," is a very 
clumsy expression, not having " sufficient lightness 
and delicacy for polite writing or elegant composition." 
It is wonderful, indeed, what a swarm of pretty crea- 
tures appear in the evening of intellect on the surface 
of literature — touching it with such exquisite light- 
ness and delicacy as to be in no danger of sinking to 
the bottom. It is well known that Grecian literature 
had reached the very acme of sublimity before Lon- 
ginus wrote sublimely on the subject : when Quin- 
tilian wrote his incomparable and adorable Institutes, 
Latin literature was high in the noontide of its 
matchless splendour : the gross genius of Rabelais 
had completely died away before the original Rollin 



194 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

arose to introduce Quintilian as master of the cere- 
monies of polite literature ; — giving much new matter 
of his own for the benefit of Belles Lettres, that every 
composer might be taught to use only words of suffi- 
cient lightness and delicacy : since that ever-memor- 
able era of French literature, it has been wonderfully 
free, bold, original, profound, sublime, and withal 
exquisitely light and delicate ; for I left the weighti- 
est remark to the last, that it might come home with 
due force to the masculine, mighty bosom of College 
Professors. We have been looking abroad ; but there 
is an old saying, look at home. It is well known, that 
the dull, barren, clumsy, unpolished, tasteless age of 
Shakespear, Bacon, Hobbes, Taylor, and Barrow, 
had long passed away before Dr. Blair, Dr. Beattie, 
Dugald Stewart and Dr. Irving, &c. came creeping 
into literary existence, in a style of exquisite light- 
ness and delicacy. It would certainly wound my 
Scotch pride to find so many of my countrymen in 
the crowd of light, little authors that play upon the 
surface of literature in the old age of refinement, if i 
had now as much overweening nationality as 1 had 
seven years ago ; but the Scotch Doctors have com- 
pletely cured me of that affection. I know not how 
the bigots of the North will take this compliment ; but 
their persecution I defy, a3 I despise their meanness ; 
for most of them are poor slavish things in every sense 
of the word ; and my remarks arc dictated by sincere 
affection for my mother-country, who is worthy of 
nobler sons than the present puny race of servile 
lords and lairds and finical Doctors. 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 19*5 

The importance of Philosophic Grammar, as merely 
subservient to what is commonly called composition, is 
sufficiently evident ; for those who are best acquainted 
with the materials of composition, are surely most 
likely to construct them skilfully. This must be the 
case if there be any conduciveness in theoretical 
knowledge to practical skilfulness ; yet Dugald 
Stewart, in the true style of a petty rhetorician, 
(for this is, after all the boasting about Intellectual 
Philosophy, his true literary character,) remarks, 
1 That he hardly ever knew an individual devoted 
to etymological studies, who wrote his native lan- 
guage with ease and elegance." We have had much 
simpering about ease and elegance, and grace and 
propriety, and other important matters connected 
with true taste ; for which, no doubt, there is an esta- 
blished standard founded on fixed principles and 
everlasting truth. I do not pretend to be qualified 
to reason about sound palates, or the most exquisite 
style of cookery with the great professor ; nor can I 
pretend to say whether those individuals he has 
known devoted to etymology, were capable of good 
style. I suspect he had his eye on a certain laborious 
Doctor, who has raised a cairn of etymological lum- 
ber, as well as some smaller heaps of the same mate- 
rials ; and whom Scotch bigotry has pronounced the 
first etymologer of the age. The compositions of 
such first-rate etymologers may be somewhat too 
heavy — too much wanting in lightness and delicacy: 
if, however, they be loaded withdulness and pedantry. 

o 2 



196 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY, 

they are free of finicalness and feminine affectation : 
the author may not be sufficiently penetrating for wit 
or philosophy, but he does not play the skipping 
dancing master, or tiptoe gentleman of literary fashion. 
England can boast of two etymological philosophers, 
(I ought, perhaps, to say three, for Bacon evidently 
studied language profoundly, and as it must be 
studied profoundly, etymologically,) Hobbes and 
Home Tooke. Will Dugald Stewart dare to pre- 
tend that he is qualified to criticise the style of 
Hobbes and Home Tooke ? I will not express my 
sentiments and sensations as connected with such a 
supposition ; but every true judge of the question 
will admit, that it is not only a debt of gratitude to 
merit, but a debt of justice to intellectual dignity to 
repel the petulance of hollow upstart pretension. I 
have no personal complaint or animosity against 
Dugald Stewart — I have no knowledge of him but 
through the medium of his writings ; and had he 
contented himself with writing indefinitely and in- 
significantly about metaphysics, and prettily about 
style, taste, beauty and such pretty matters, I would 
not have been at the trouble to notice either him or 
his misty, vacuous, shallow compositions ; but as he 
has used petulent, indecent freedoms with some of 
the greatest intellectual dignities of modern times, I 
should scorn my own perceptions and sensations, if 
I had not courage to rebuke such insolence. Had 
even Dr. Reid alluded to some of our philosophers in 
the manner of his disciples, every philosophic mind 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 197 

must have been offended ; but when such petty 
bigots as Beattie and Stewart fall to railing* at the 
memory and writings of great men, every philosophic 
mind must feel contemptuously indignant ; and we 
should deserve to be revisited with the darkness and 
horror of the middle age, if we suffered such petty 
sophists to simper or clamour the public into a blind 
reception of a senseless system of metaphysics. I do 
not think it proper to put the extinguisher on the 
metaphysical glimmerings of Dugald Stewart in this 
publication ; but I am willing to pledge my intellec- 
tual character to blow up his whole system with a 
few squibs in a Tom Thumb volume ; for it would be 
an idle waste of time and materials to bring out the 
artillery of reason to batter down such paste-board, 
gingerbread fortifications of the Monkish Theory, as 
the flimsy, shadowy reasonings contained in what are 
quackishly termed " Philosophy of the Mind/' 
" Philosophical Essays/' &c. &c. 

Our rhetorical masters, who are always judging 
and legislating (for this is the age of critics and task- 
masters) respecting true taste, good style, elegant 
composition, and other profound accomplishments, 
seem to consider thoughts as merely dolls for intellec- 
tual babies to play with ; dressing them up fashion- 
ably and somewhat meretriciously, but vailed with 
the semblance of modesty ; for any thing like free- 
dom or boldness you know, even in meretricious 
charmers, would in this age of refinement, lightness 
and delicacy, shock even masculine admirers into 



198 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY, 



hysterics ; and that you know would be dangerous 
to the whole nervous system of Polite' Literature. 
The consequences might be very serious and fatal 
indeed of allowing the freedom and boldness of ori- 
ginality ; for poor Mademoiselle Belles Lettres might 
be so much affected with rough handling as never 
to get the better of it. As I can hardly command 
my gravity on this important subject, I shall give a 
quotation from Dr. Crombie : " It must be remem- 
bered, that to give our chief attention to mere phrase- 
ology, or to be more solicitous about the accuracy 
(he should have said lightness and delicacy) of the 
diction than the value of the sentiment is a sure in- 
dication of a nerveless and vacant mind. As we es- 
timate a man not by his garb, but by his intellec- 
tual and moral worth ; so it is the sentiment itself 
not the dress in which it is exhibited, that deter- 
mines its character and our opinion of its author." 
This rejnark, if not original, is sensible. I regret 
indeed that the author should have thought it neces- 
sary to adorn such sensible sentences by fringing 
them round with bad rhyme from a bad poet, and 
old ragged Latin quotations. That must be a beg- 
garly pride which is pampered by ostentatious bor- 
rowing, and pleased with publishing the names and 
numbers of its charitable contributors. Such a prac- 
tice may have the sanction and recommendation of 
polite and learned usage; but poverty and meanness, 
vanity and affectation, have constantly had the pro. 
tection of present usage; and Dr. Crombie should 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 199 

not degrade himself by mingling with the seroum 
pecus. 

I have thought proper to express my admiration 
of fashionable literature — grammatical and rhetorical 
usage by giving it a few light, delicate touches ; for 
I would not be so rude or barbarous as to handle its 
dear delicate frame : that would be dangerous in- 
deed ; and it is well known that things of great ex- 
quisiteness and value are easily injured, as well as 
little babies and pretty playthings. We have been 
considering words as capable of being mixed into a 
palatable cordial for true taste ; which is always in 
the fashion of being delicate and sometimes a little 
sickly and squeamish ; or (as there are more senses 
than one to please) their capabilities for soft, smooth 
and harmonious composition to sooth dainty ears 
with much sweet melody. These, no doubt, are the 
primary and most important uses of words ; but they 
have also some inferior, yet necessary offices: besides 
being playthings for literary gentlemen and ladies 
who have no other business but amusement, they 
are the tools, of poor intellectual miners, labourers 
and mechanics, who have to do all the drudgery 
connected with discovery, invention, experimenting, 
proving, laying foundations, raising superstructures, 
&c. : when such hard working thinkers as Bacon 
and Hobbes are busy at their tools, for they have 
often as much trouble with them as Newton had 
with his glasses, to make them answer the purpose 
of instruments ; Mr. Kant and Mr. Stewart are up 



200 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

in the empyrean regions of spiritual meditation quaf- 
fing the choice nectar of immaterial essences and 
metaphysical abstractions, or dozing and dreaming 
about intellectual theories. No doubt these have 
much the best of it, for they are pleasantly dreaming 
when the others are anxiously toiling ; and what is 
still more they are put on the same Calendar with 
Plato and Aristotle, and all the gods of Greece and 
Rome, and worshiped by the holy Catholic church 
of literary orthodoxy ; while those poor intellectual 
labourers who dig about the foundations of things 
are reproached and persecuted as heretics, innova- 
tors and reformers, intent upon undermining all sound 
faith, saving knowledge, true theories of mind, and 
matter and logic and ethics and rhetoric, good go- 
vernment and social order, and the very throne of 
Jove himself; for the world is considered in danger 
by peaceful, industrious, hard thinkers, whose sole 
object it is to find out if possible what the world is. 
Under these circumstances it is not probable that the 
deeper (which are the lower and inferior departments 
of course) and more laborious recesses of sciences 
will be over-crowded. Most people prefer amuse- 
ment to labour, and would rather please the ears of 
the multitude in the balls, concerts, and converza- 
tiones of polite literature, by playing with words as 
instruments of music, than offend orthodox under- 
standings and good taste with them as vulgar tools 
or mere instruments of thinking. The metaphysical 
Professor has indeed among other profound, original 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 201 

inventions, discovered that words are not intellectual 
tools or instruments; and indeed not any thing — 
wholly insignificant — mere nonentities. Could this 
position be established the true theory of the soul 
would have some chance ; and its author would be 
entitled to take precedence of Kant in the metaphy- 
sical department of learned mysteries. Perhaps some 
will think that none can judge of tools but workmen, 
and that Dugald Stewart must serve an apprentice- 
ship, if not to the study of etymology (for that would 
be below the dignity of philosophy) at least to the 
business of thinking, before he can speak intelligent- 
ly of intellectual instruments. I am willing, indeed, 
for once to compliment his sagacity by supposing 
that he perceived the danger (to the true theory of 
the soul) rather than inutility of etymology ; for it is 
the great work-shop and armory of intellectual tools 
and instruments. Metaphysically misty and rheto- 
rically superficial as his understanding is, he must 
have perceived that Hobbes and Home Tooke de- 
derived from etymological studies their probing in- 
struments and spears, and all their intellectual wea- 
pons ; perhaps he would like these tools better if 
they were blunter, or handled with more lightness 
and delicacy ; for his heavy charge against etymolo- 
gical studies, as unfavourable to delicacy, lightness 
and good taste, must be admitted. A true etymolo- 
ger always calls things by their proper names, (and 
that is often very unpoiite) and always employs vul- 
gar instruments for vulgar purposes : he would not 



202 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

for instance, be at the expense of silver nippers to 
crack rhetorical insects, nor would he attempt to 
chop up a metaphysical block with a razor. Those 
who consider words insignificant and worth nothing 
can afford to lavish them on lightness, delicacy and 
pretty composition ; but etymology makes its stu- 
dents quite stingy (and sometimes a little stinging) 
in the use of words; for like chemistry, it teaches 
the value of what many people throw away. Perhaps 
the worthy Professor (who is no doubt entitled to 
judge and legislate in all the high concernments of 
taste) will pronounce all this below the dignity of phi- 
losophy ; and very far from the true philosophical 
style. I have never had the honour of lecturing to a 
College congregation, and therefore ought to be very 
modest, diffident and humble, but I may be permit- 
ted to give my unlearned, or self-learned notions of 
style; not that I would dictate or dogmatize: may 
all the classic gods at once forbid that I should turn 
critical legislator, tyrant or task-master ; seeing that 
the whole literary multitude are already groaning as 
patiently as donkeys under the chains and burdens of 
legal, authorised, established oppression. I would 
rather see them as wild, lawless and fetterless as the 
bold Arab and his spirited courser, than the poor 
subdued, enslaved, dull, stupid things they now 
arc : whether they are capable of being rendered free 
and bold may be a question : for it is with the mem- 
bers of the Republic of Letters as it is with nations 
and donkeys ; when once the spirit is fairly broken 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 203 

down it is hardly ever raised up again : and what 
renders their case more hopeless than even that of a 
poor, stupid, heart-broken ass — they are vain and 
boastful of the means and forms of their bondage and 
oppression ; and are ever braying about precedents 
and authorities and fixed opinions and established 
usage and the principles (though arbitrary) and rules 
and laws and perfect models (and imitators must ever 
be servum pecus) of grammar, rhetoric, style, taste : 
— all must be chained down to the set form — the au- 
thorised manner. As for the host of critics that come 
into existence in the old age of literature, they are 
the regular standing army of the Republic of Let- 
ters when become wholly corrupt and despotic ; and 
at every conspicuous place literary centinels are sta- 
tioned to watch the movements of authorship and 
keep down reform, innovation, insurrection, or re- 
volt from established bondage and oppression. These 
literary janizaries are all little despots ; strutting 
round the whole circle of criticism with wonderful 
airs of importance and authority. Many luckless 
authors they sabre without mercy ; and as this kind 
of killing is no murder (being legal and authorised) 
the victims of their malice or wantonness are never 
more heard of: many prudent spiritless authors are 
glad to pass them with a slight beating or kicking ; 
but not a few of their comrades, acquaintances and 
such as have civilly shaken hands with them, they 
welcome into public notice by shouldering their cri- 
tical arms — giving zfeudejoie — or clearing a passage 



204 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

for them by knocking every body down that stands 
in their way. Every time the old royal, legitimate 
authors come out and appear before the public in a 
new suite there is a general review ; and there is 
wonderful running and crowding to see the review ; 
especially if any of the Grecian and Roman princes 
(who are as great and numerous as German ones) be 
on the field ; or if such great lexicographic and gram- 
matical personages as Dr. Johnson and Lindley Mur- 
ray, or any of the other royal dukes of the English 
language, be present. But with all their constant 
training, exercising and manoeuvring, there is hardly 
one of these critical regulars that can handle his fire- 
lock in such a soldier-like style as old corporal Cob- 
bett ; though they consider him as belonging to the 
awkward squad ; for when they find home-bred, vi- 
gorous intellect too powerful for them, they loll out 
their tongues and drivel about learning, taste, gram- 
mar, rhetoric, and such wonderful accomplishments; 
as if classical saliva had the singular property of slab- 
bering away the understanding. I mean to use great 
freedoms with some of the literary idols ; and to de- 
liver some very illegitimate doctrines concerning style: 
the giants of taste, criticism and learning maybe ex- 
pected to rise in a body ; if, however, they will sti- 
pulate to keep lightness and delicacy out of the fray, 
I will undertake single-handed to put them all down 
with such weapons only as etymology supplies : I 
have some confidence in myself — much confidence 
in my weapons — very great confidence 4 in the good- 
ness of my cause 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 205 



THE QUALITIES OF GOOD COMPOSITION 
CONSIDERED. 

One would suppose good composition a very sim- 
ple affair, admitting of few words ; for they are al- 
ways the most doubtful and spurious texts of science 
that require the largest comments and the minutest 
critical notes ; but amazing quantities of rhetorical 
dust, varnish and flowers, have been heaped on the 
subject of style or composition. It is amusing in- 
deed to witness the slow, laborious operations of 
rhetoricians in wrapping up their little silk-worm 
thoughts in fine-spun verbosities — buzzing all the 
while about the excellencies of composition. The}^ 
certainly do excel in some of the qualities which 
they ascribe to good style : they are great masters 
of lightness, delicacy, prettiness, smoothness and 
harmony ; in all other respects they are too ignorant 
and senseless to instruct — too dull and witless to 
amuse : they have always indeed been surrounded 
by a gaping crowd of admirers, a few degrees more 
dull and witless than themselves, else the wit of 
Butler would have laughed them out of existence. 
But such lecturers as Dr. Blair and Dugald Stewart 
need never despair of a congregation ; and College 
calens might become so free and bold as to neglect 
lightness and delicacy if they were not duly trained 



206 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

into the true taste and best style by doctrine, pre- 
cept and example. 

The first step to the acquisition of a good style is 
to disbelieve, disregard and scorn the doctrines and 
precepts of the rhetoricians. What one of the an- 
cient philosophers said of laws may be truly said of 
rhetorical rules : they are like cobwebs, which en- 
tangle the weak, but which the strong break through. 
Strong intellects cannot be held captive in the petty 
laws of pelits maitres : nor can there be any strength 
of mind without breaking down the fences of the ser~ 
vum pecus, and trampling the chains of intellectual 
bondage under foot. Before a man can be a good 
thinker or a good writer he must be free and bold — 
he must be roused to noble daring — he must feel his 
whole soul rising in scornful indignation at the 
thought of having been for a day a blind follower of 
blind leaders — a slave of slaves — a member of the 
herd of creeping, crouching, servile minds. Slaves 
may bow gracefully, fawn smoothly, flatter politely, 
use inuendos of uncommon lightness and delicacy, 
apply misnomers with ready facility, imitate the best 
models, or great personages, closely, and strut ele- 
gantly after despotism according to the etiquette of 
established usage ; but are slaves capable of intellec- 
tual originality, energy, dignity, or sublimity ? Are 
slaves capable of bold thinking and fearless expres- 
sion ? Can servile composers in the harness of rules 
dreading the lash of criticism, limping upon quota- 
tions with their eye upon precedents and authoritievS 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 207 

create a style at once new and striking, yet just and 
proper ? All real greatness is the offspring of free- 
dom : there may be absurdity, folly, cant, hypoc- 
risy, squeamish delicacy, finical politeness, sickly 
sentimentality, mawkish affectation in every possi- 
ble fantastic form of fashion and variety ; but there 
cannot be original, substantial excellence without 
intellectual independence, manly thinking and feel- 
ing. The first rule of good composition is, 
that the composer be free and bold. 

The second rule is, that he adopt no mo- 
del OF STYLE. 

Imitation is, in reality, servility ; and servility is 
destructive of excellence. Their master, Horace, 
might have taught the roting, repeating, imitating, 
classical multitude, to consider themselves a servum 
pecus ; yet these same repeaters are ever clamouring 
about perfect models of a perfect style. But when 
we examine these perfect models they are found to 
be contemptible idols of superstitious worshipers. 
The Latin models so much boasted of are, after all, 
bad imitations of bad models that never were origi- 
nals. I know what an uproar this will make among 
classical minds ; but I assert, and I am willing to 
prove my assertion, in any way they choose, that 
Virgil is a dull versifier, and that their famous ora- 
tor, Tully, is a petty rhetorician. They will, per- 
haps, talk profoundly and loftily about long and in- 
timate and minute acquaintance with the prince of 
poets and prince of orators. I pretend to no long,- 



203 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

intimate, minute acquaintance with their petty 
princes, for I wish to keep better company ; but if 
the birds of the air can discover by a single peck, or 
trial, whether fruit be good or not, it must be strange 
indeed if rational beings cannot, after many trials, 
pronounce on the merits of Latin authors ; or if they 
must rote and repeat at them half a life-time, or half 
a century, to find out their coy, modest, latent vir- 
tues. Latin excellencies are perhaps so exquisitely 
light and little as to require much microscopic re- 
flection and criticism ; and perhaps the true taste 
for them can be acquired only in childhood when the 
mind is yet free from every incredulous bias occa- 
sioned by heretical and sceptical philosophy ; so that 
those who bring the eyes and understandings of men 
to classical models, may be disqualified to appreciate 
their merits. This may be my hapless, hopeless 
case ; and therefore I would be diffident and fearful 
of getting beyond my depth in so profound a ques- 
tion. There are many classical excellencies which 
I shall never be qualified to appreciate, or even to 
perceive : I pretend only to judge of Latin composi- 
tion as I do of plain home-made English : I merely 
ascertain its sense and its nonsense : the latter I find 
as frequently and plentifully sprinkled as if it were 
Attic salt, or classic seasoning, to preserve sufficient 
lightness and delicacy ; for sense is heavy and clumsy, 
and withal so vulgar that the Scotch metaphysicians 
thought they could not do better to render their babf 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 209 

of philosophy a favourite with the public than baptize 
it Common Sense. 

Neither wit nor reasoning from an humble, self- 
taught thinker, may have any influence on the disci- 
ples of tradition, precedent and authority ; but they 
must reverence the opin ions — they must tremble before 
the awful majesty of the creator of philosophy. Bacon 
was aware of college canting and raving about ancient 
learning ; but Bacon was bold to say, in the face of 
the classical multitude, that " The stream of time 
has floated down to us the light and empty, and sunk 
the weighty and solid parts of ancient learning/* 
We have plenty of the exquisite, light, delicate, 
pretty, soft, smooth cobwebs, and silken, fine-spun 
nothings of the literary insects that swarmed in the 
evening of Grecian and Roman intellect ; when free- 
dom, independence, originality, manly thinking, 
feeling and acting had departed, leaving behind a 
poor, dull, servile, imitative, theatric set of artificial 
creatures, strutting about the stage of life in pompous 
insignificance ; adjusting the ritual of classical ido- 
latry and the ceremonial of classical fashion ; or 
lolling out their tongues about learning and taste in 
absolute fatuity. 

We have labyrinthian and Babylonish masses, and 
multitudes of works made in Greece and Rome after 
the period of the Restoration ; — histories, (for litera- 
ture is wonderfully narrative in her old age) biogra- 
phies, systems of rhetoric, grammar and logic ; criti- 
cal dissertations on mole hillocks, butterflies, mites 

p 



210 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

and animalcule ; poesies of all sorts and sizes — some 
of them as large as the White Doe of Roylstone ; 
others as minutely elegant as the composition of 
Dugald Stewart, or the prettinesses of his admirer and 
worthy disciple the Editor of the Examiner ; common- 
place books without number, and cyclopaedias of 
as numerous compartments and mighty magnitude as 
the labyrinths of Egypt and tower of Babel. But 
amidst all this waste of intellectual riches, paper and 
ink, where are the few rare authors that wrote before 
the true taste and the true manner were established ? 
Where are those deep, dangerous-thinking men the 
I>emocrituses, the Bacons and the Hobbeses P They 
were mortal and perished, because they were never 
consecrated and deified. Only such sound orthodox 
philosophers as Plato, Aristotle and their disciple 
Cicero, were worthy of being put on the catholic 
calendar and of occupying the temple of fame. 
Thanks to the art of printing, that our literature 
has not shared the same fate ; else all the lights and 
intellectual jewels of Bacon had been extinguished 
and buried under the rubbish — the chaff — the straw 
— the very ordure and clumsy hoofs of the servum 
pecus. 

The appropriateness to my present purpose of the 
following quotation, from the philosopher of philo- 
sophers is so evident as to require no comment: " We 
plainly perceive, (says Bacon) that the sciences will 
not be considerably advanced, till men shall be made 
thoroughly acquainted with the proper characters and 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 211 

merits of those ancient and modern philosophers they 
so much admire. The present design is, therefore, 
to deal roundly, and fix a mark on such pretended 
philosophers as we take to have been more fabulous 
than the poets ; debauchers of men's minds and falsi- 
fiers of the works of nature ; and to make as free with 
that degenerate, servile tribe, their followers, flat- 
terers, and the hirelings who corrupt mankind for 
gain. And we shall take the liberty to cite each of 
them by name ; lest, as their authority is so great, we 
should be apprehended only to act a part ; and under 
colour, side with some or other of them ; since they 
cherish such violent disputes and animosities among 
themselves. 

" Let Aristotle first appear ; whom we charge 1. 
with abominable sophistry ; 2. useless subtility ; and 
3. a vile sporting with words. Nay, when men by any 
accident, as by a favourable gale, arrived at any truth 
and there cast anchor ; this man had the assurance 
to fetter the mind with the heaviest irons ; and com- 
posing a certain art of madness, enslaved mankind 
with words. [This is what Kant and Dugald Stewart 
would fain accomplish.] 

" Again, from the nursing and tutoring of this man, 
have arisen a shoal of cunning triflers ; who turning 
their backs upon nature and all the light of things and 
history, overspread the world with numerous mock- 
schools ; raised by the restless agitations of wit, prin- 
cipally on the extremely ductile matter of his precepts 
and positions. But they, indeed, are more excusable 

p 2 



\ 



212 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

than their haughty dictator ; for they did not, like 
him, offend against better light and knowledge. For 
he, after having trod in the open plains of history 
and viewed the works of nature, dug to himself a 
dungeon and filled it with the vainest idols. And 
what adds to his guilt, he has even upon the history 
of particulars raised certain cobweb structures which 
he would palm on mankind for causes ; whilst in 
reality they are matters of no validity nor value ; but 
nearly resembling those, which in our own time, that 
antipode to things, as well as to himself, Cardan, 
busied himself in forming. 

" But w r hilst I thus arraign the works of Aristotle, 
let me not be supposed a conspirator in league with 
Ramus, that modern rebel against him. I have no 
affection for that skulking hole of ignorance, [what 
sort of holes would he have called the German and 
Scotch metaphysicians and rhetoricians ?] that de- 
structive book-worm of learning, that father of epi- 
tomes, who, when he wrings and presses things with 
the shackles of his method and contraction, the sub- 
stance, if there was any, immediately starts out and 
escapes him ; whilst he grasps nothing but the empty 
chaff and exhausted carcase. 

"Aquinas has gone further, and spun a variety of 
things out of nothing, leaving by way of consolation 
a solitude in things themselves : yet he has the as- 
surance to be frequently talking of human uses ; so 
that I take him for a most prevaricating sophister. 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 213 

And the same accusation I bring against Scotus and 
his followers. 

" Let Plato next appear ; whom we charge with 
being 1. a well-bred sophister ; 2. a timid poet ; and 
3. a fanatical divine ; who, by finely polishing and 
working together certain philosophical rumours, and 
dissembling his pretence to knowledge, endeavoured 
to loosen and unsettle men's minds by vague induc- 
tions ; and has thus, indeed, supplied abundant mat- 
ter of table-talk to men of letters in respect of civil 
conversation, polite life, ornament and sweetness of 
familiar discourse. But when he falsely asserted 
that truth was not an inhabitant of the human breast, 
but a stranger come from afar, and turned men's 
thoughts from the history of nature and from things 
themselves, (though never sufficiently applied to) ; 
and taught the mind to enter into itself; and there, 
under the name of contemplation, to tumble over its 
own blind and confused idols ; then it was he com- 
mitted the capital crime of which we accuse him. 
And no less impiously has he introduced the canon- 
ization of folly, and had the assurance to skreen his 
degenerate and corrupt notions under the cloak of 
religion. And here lies the strength of the charge. 
But for his being the father of polite literature and' 
elegant writing, who, by his example, authority and 
success captivated and led numbers to content them- 
selves with a character for wit, politeness, agreeable- 
ness, and a popular knowledge of things, to the detri- 
ment of a severe and rigorous enquiry after truth ; we 



214 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

account this a less heinous offence. And among the 
men thus captivated by him, we reckon Cicero, Se- 
neca and Plutarch, with numerous others no way 
comparable to them." — Critique of the more eminent 
Philosophers. Bacons Works. 

If the reader would see more criticism of the same 
description on more of the learned idols, he must 
consult the works of the above noble author. We 
might show how applicable to certain rhetorical 
metaphysical vaporers the descriptions are, above 
given, of Aristotle, Plato and their disciples ; but it 
is more important to remark how poor (after all the 
classical boasting) those models must be, whose 
highest and most philosophic patterns were the writ- 
ings of such misty, vacuous, shallow composers as 
Aristotle and Plato. It is necessary to bring the 
classical idols into contempt, to cure the world of a 
foolish, contemptible idolatry ; and the most effectual 
means of putting a stop to a mean-spirited, slavish 
imitation of models, is to show that they are not 
worth imitating. 

Among English writers, Addison is considered the 
model of the middle style ; and all the world of com- 
posers have heard about giving their days and nights 
to the volumes of Addison. This is the way the 
farce and delusion of hollow, heartless, artificial opi- 
nion are kept up : Johnson knew that he must say 
something extra-superfine and supremely antithetic 
about Addison ; and his superfine antithesisms were 
as cheap articles (for they cost him nothing, but it 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 215 

might have given him not a little trouble to try to do 
without them,) as he could give his bookseller and 
the public ; but I do not believe that he ever gave a 
single half-day or half-night to the volumes of Addi- 
son in his life : nay, I doubt, if he ever read a single 
volume or half-volume of Addison. Not to mention 
the unassociable, repellent natures of their tastes and 
styles — Johnson had too much intuitive penetration 
and intellectual strength to hold dalliance even in 
idle hours with such flimsy, trifling, common-place, 
inaccurate, indefinite, loose, tautological, diffuse, 
ill-constructed compositions as those of Addison. 
Twenty times have I attempted to read the writings 
of Addison, but I could never succeed in getting 
through a single volume. I did get twice through 
Virgil by the gracious aid of an etymological motive ; 
but I believe twenty etymological motives would not 
drag me through the volumes of Addison ; and I de- 
clare, upon my honour and conscience, as an author, 
that I would rather fairly eat them up and digest 
them down, (all, saving and excepting the boards,) 
than give them my precious days and nights. 

One is sorry to hurt the delicacy of light and tender 
minds : no doubt, the literary conscience of such 
weak brethren as Dugald Stewart, will be greatly 
offended at my daring scepticism, infidelity and 
heresy : the good Professor was much distressed, 
because he could not bring Burns to admire and imi- 
tate his favourite model ; and he delicately bewailed 
the want of true taste in the coarse, home-formed 



c 2\6 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

palate of the ploughman-poet : but after all, the in- 
tellect of Burns was great enough to bestride that of 
Addison, and that of Dugald Stewart on the top of 
it. Hercules is reported to have sarcastically said on 
seeing Adonis among the gods — : " There is no divi- 
nity in thee/' It would be wonderful, indeed, if 
such minds as that of Burns could admire such au- 
thors as Addison and Pope ; even though they have 
been consecrated and deified by the literary church 
of true believers ; who cease not day and night to 
adore and imitate, praise and serve them. I expect 
a thousand classical tongues to be darted at me for 
my provoking doctrines ; and much literary dribble — 
many roted morsels and critical crudities, with the 
very quintessence of established opinion, and general 
consent to be spitefully spit in my face : but delicate 
mouths never spit fire ; and the saliva of polite taste 
has the singular property of taking away all the dan- 
gerous and deadly qualities of the venom of classical 
hostility ; so that the bite of a well-trained literary 
viper is as harmless as the hiss of a goose. Perhaps 
some great critical gander will come flapping and 
flourishing out of the flock to peck at the legs of the 
present author ; but a single kick or two (and it can- 
not surely be unpolite to kick gander-ch amp ions), 
will send the hero back into his own crowd and 
muddy hole. I know what courtly simperers will 
think and say (or rather hint — for the timid things 
dare not speak out), of this contemptuous, uncharit- 
able, impolite, unphilosophic style of writing ; but I 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 21? 

should despise myself if I could admire what they 
admire, or praise what they praise ; and I should 
loathe my existence with consciousness of hypocriti- 
cally cloaking my real opinions and feelings to ap- 
pear orthodox, or become popular among a canting, 
mystical, visionary race of roters, eternally saying 
after consecrated authorities. After all the cant and 
clamour about perfect models — where are they to be 
found ? Must a petit maitre be set up on a pedestal 
as fugle-man general to all composers ? — A finical 
proser that could never get a sentence out in the 
House of Commons, (for in this respect he was 
another Blair) — that could not write a state-paper 
in necessary time for state-business — that would 
arrest the press to alter a comma ; yet with all this 
fingering Jinicalness, has not left a single well-con- 
structed paragraph in his whole writings ! Surely, 
as a man, I have a right to feel indignant at the insult 
offered to men, by that pettiest of all despotisms 
which sets up a petty idol, commanding them to 
bow the knee and prostrate their minds before it un- 
der pain of literary censure and reproach. The whole 
herd of imitators are following Johnson and Addison : 
it seems to be now decidedly the authorised opinion, 
that the style of Johnson is a bad model : I admit it 
to be a bad model, but it is in every view infinitely 
better than that of Addison. Such finical critics as 
Dugald Stewart, may talk of the quaint antithesis and 
bad taste of Junius, (for he was too prudent to make 
free with Johnson, though the proper example of 



218 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

what he meant) ; but after all, what they blame is 
far more excellent than what they praise. 

I am afraid of their becoming models and idols, 
else I would point out some specimens of excellent 
composition in the English language (and no language 
can boast of better) : I would analyze them and show 
why they are excellent : I would rest their excel- 
lence on their fitness as means or instruments — on 
the foundation of eternal reason — not on any slippery, 
slobbery nonsense about taste; concerning which the 
roters might have learned from one of their old ragged 
Latin quotations, that there is no disputing with 
certainty ; but they know not how to convert their 
rags to any valuable purpose. Were the composi- 
tions studied as models, perfect and faultless, the 
imitation of them would be certain to cause a falling 
off in excellence ; — the composition of the imitator 
would have that character of meanness which ever 
attends the page or slave, whose every step and mo- 
tion and accent, indicate a conscious inferiority. I 
had purposed to analyze some of the compositions of 
Addison and his admirer Dugald Stewart ; but I find 
that to experiment much upon these very solid, well- 
organized bodies, would exhaust too much time and 
paper. 

There is a kind of imitation which is not consider- 
ed as at all servile, though it has in fact the same 
slavish tendency as that above noticed : I mean the 
applying of words only as Johnson, Addison, Swift, 
and the other precedent writers or established autho- 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 219 

vities have applied them. This is the good old tra- 
ditionary custom of handling the intellectual wea- 
pons in the style of some great literary fugle-man; and 
good Dugald Stewart is seriously alarmed, lest in the 
application of words composers abandon the autho- 
rity of Addison and Swift, and run wild like savages 
in the woods of etymology ; for too much freedom 
of style would be very dangerous to the whole eti- 
quette of true taste, tender delicacy, and all the re- 
tinue of literary despotism : sober-minded authors 
too who are industriously inventive in finding out 
precedents and references, can shelter themselves 
under the authority of that tall, towering genius, 
Addison, like asses under a stately shrub. 

It is the applying of words only in a certain au- 
thorised manner that gives to composition that worn- 
out character — that badge of meanness, poverty and 
absolute pauperism which literature wears in the old 
age of invention : the garb is indeed very fine, very 
fashionable, well-brushed, neatly made, fitted and 
put on ; but it is miserably old, thin and thread-bare ; 
it evidently came out of a second-hand shop, or be- 
longs to a poor gentleman in reduced circumstances. 

The meanings and the applications of words are 
as different as any weapon or instrument and the 
uses to which it is applied, or the manner in which 
it is handled. The uses or applications of words 
should be directed solely by their meaning : any other 
rule of composition is arbitrary and enslaving ; and, 
as I have so often repeated, arbitrariness and slavish- 



220 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

ness are destructive of intellectual excellence. It 
would be amusing to see the long ever-dwindling 
train of literary pages of pages well represented on 
paper or canvass : what a stately procession of Tom 
Thumbs and Punch puppets would be seen rank and 
file at the tail of Addison or Pope, tapering down 
one after another, like descending steps of a stair to 
the giant stature of industrious ants, mites and ani- 
malcule ; — posting from sentence to sentence in 
quest of precedents, or applications of words by their 
great lawgivers and supreme judges ! 



WHOEVER WOULD HAVE A GOOD STYLE MUST 
DISREGARD ALL THE POPULAR AND FASHION- 
ABLE DOCTRINES ON THE SUBJECT. 

The above proposition is in reality comprehended 
under that laid down respecting professed rhetori- 
cians ; but I wish to arrest the attention of the reader 
to it in a distinct and separate form. The. popular 
doctrines which ought particularly to be disregarded 
are those which belong to literal and metaphoric ex- 
pression, delicacy, propriety, elegance, and such pre- 
cious matters. 

Among the other quack critics of this quackishly 
critical age, Dugald Stewart appears as a first-rate 
professor ; and delivers certain very profound and ori- 
ginal discoveries respecting language — addressing his 
readers in the following very wonderful manner: " I 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 221 

have contrasted some of the opposite perfections of 
the philosophical and of the rhetorical or poetical 
style. The former, I have observed, accomplishes 
its purposes most effectually, when like the language 
of algebra, it confines our reasoning faculties to their 
appropriate province, and guards the thoughts against 
any distraction from the occasional wanderings of 
fancy. How different from this is the aim of poetry ! 
Sometimes to subdue reason itself by her syren song ; 
and in all her higher efforts to revert to the first im- 
pressions and to the first language of nature ; — cloth- 
ing every idea with a sensible image" 

This is all very pretty, and no doubt perfectly cor- 
rect — the algebraic, or true philosophic style. 1 have 
been troubled with doubts about the language of 
algebra, but there can be no doubt respecting the cor- 
rectness of the algebraic or true philosophic style of 
the true theory of Scotch metaphysics ; for such ex- 
pressions as clothing an idea with a sensible image 
have ablaze of evidence which not only overpowers 
conviction but renders the understanding dark through 
excessive brightness. 

Poetry, it seems, reverts to the first language of 
nature, and subdues reason itself by her syren song ! 
But what poetry does the profound Professor mean ? 
The poetry which is said, sung, grinned and sim- 
pered after the tragedy of free, bold, original think- 
ing and during the farce of polite literature — -the poe- 
try of the Popes and Wordsworths certainly reverts to 
the first language of nature— to the nursery and ba- 



222 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

byism of intellect — or rather to the drivelling fatuity 
of second childhood ; but Mr. Stewart must not 
think himself degraded from his true metaphysical 
rank when I tell him that there is more true philo- 
sophy in a few pages of Shakespear's poetry than in 
all his boasting volumes. The true language of true 
poetry is the language of nature : all tribes of men 
have begun with the language of poetry, not of choice 
but necessity : imagery (the soul and body of poetry) 
was a necessary before it was a luxury ; — as the chace 
was the business before it was the amusement of 
man ; — as venison was common food before it was a 
costly dainty or choice delicacy ; — as furs and fea- 
thers were put on for use before they were worn for 
ornament. Nature made men poets — poetry made 
them philosophers — philosophy made them meta- 
physicians — metaphysics rendered them drivelling, 
dreaming dotards. 

When words arejirst applied figuratively to intel- 
lectual matters they can hardly perplex or mislead ; 
for they are frank and modest : they pretend not, like 
confident mystics, to have discovered the laws or 
principles of mind; — they merely point to the rela- 
tions of things (and without things thoughts are but 
dreams) more remote from immediate sensation as 
they have been registered in the memory by habitual 
perception and experience. Never did philosopher 
write so figuratively — so intelligibly — so justly about 
mind as Tucker (at whose supposed bad taste Dugald 
Stewart hints in the true slavish manner by a half- 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. %23 

formed inuendo) : if he does not lead his readers to 
much certain discovery in the intellectual regions, 
he does not mislead them into foolish conjectures,, 
unmeaning abstractions and absurd notions ; — pre- 
tending that they are intellectual data, phenomena — 
primitive laws — or inductive researches into the true 
theory. Tucker was too great and too honest a phi- 
losopher to employ such quackery. 

The whole flock of little critics are constantly 
chattering and gabbling about literal and figurative 
language without understanding what they say or 
whereof they affirm ; for they cannot perceive, it 
seems, that language is made up of metaphor ; and 
that those expressions commonly considered lite- 
ral are in general merely worn-out or mnmmy- 
jied metaphors : what is commonly called figura- 
tive language is new coin, or what retains all the 
distinctness and boldness of the original impress ; 
literal language is old coin with the image or signa- 
ture worn out by passing through many hands. As 
much of the smooth blank coin that passes currently 
is depreciated or base, being as devoid of intrinsic 
value as of extrinsic signature, so much of the lan- 
guage called literal that passes currently is complete- 
ly insignificant; and the only reason why readers do 
not reject it is, that they have always been accus- 
tomed to take it ; though they are as little enriched 
thereby as if they received base coin for sterling 
money. 

When Mr. Stewart keeps to abstract language made 



22i- PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

up of insignificant words, or words insignificantly 
put together, it is difficult to detect the absurdities 
of his notions (for it is impossible to see or show ob- 
jects in vacuo) ; but the moment he gives to his airy 
nothings a local habitation and a name — whenever he 
ventures to give an image of his thought or notion 
he is committed irrecoverably. He writes much in- 
significance about the insignificancy of words in ge- 
neral, which may pass with some for profound, ab- 
stract reasoning (for people usually think composi- 
tions deep when they cannot see to the bottom) ; but 
when he introduces figurative expression by saying 
the office of language is that of an anamorphosis made 
up of unmeaning patches, he forfeits with competent 
judges all claim to true thinking or sound reasoning. 
He had good reason, however, to declaim against 
ideas and analogical expressions : while such wit- 
nesses testify against his theory it must be found 
chargeable with inanity and absurdity. 

It cannot have escaped the observation of the in- 
telligent reader, that both the best and worst writers 
abound much in metaphor ; while the cautious, pru- 
dent, blameless authors, who inhabit the middle re- 
gion of literature on the confines of praise and blame, 
esteem and contempt, seldom venture to depart from 
good, sober, approved, literal expression. They are 
men of more judgment than to hazard the bold ex- 
periments of genius : they know that old well-worn 
coin, if as thin, smooth and poor as a Birmingham 
button or Jewish sixpence, passes with more facility 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 225 

than that which has the appearance of being newly 
stamped. People have been accustomed to old opin- 
ions and expressions and therefore never examine 
them ; but they are suspicious of new and strange 
appearances. 

The reason why some of the worst class of writers 
abound in metaphors is very obvious : it is not the 
metaphors that render them bad writers, but their 
venturing to employ metaphors that proves the emp- 
tiness and crookedness — the weakness and poverty 
of their intellect. It requires a superior understand- 
ing and imagination (for after all the canting non- 
sense on this point, there was never yet a good un- 
derstanding without a good imagination) to invent 
and apply proper images as instruments and vehicles 
of thought. In the flowery class of writers who in- 
troduce metaphors merely for ornament, we see that 
childishness of intellect which delights more in glit- 
ter and show, than solidity and utility ; — constantly 
presenting us with posies instead of fruits : in the 
mere common-place, literal models of the middle style, 
we have not only the gravity and steadiness, but all 
the dulness and infirmity of old age. 

The writings of the Bacons teem with metaphors; 
but these metaphors are rich with meanings — they 
are as useful as splendid — they are fit means to im- 
portant ends, being instruments and vehicles of 
thought : they have all the beauty and sublimity of 
creation ; but they are chiefly valuable for their rich 
contents and powerful influences. 

Q 



2SG PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

The truth is, figurative expression skilfully in- 
vented and judiciously applied, is as much a philo- 
sophical as a poetical excellence: and so far from 
charming down reason with a syren song (as Dugald 
Stew T art ignorantly remarks) or misleading the un- 
derstanding guards and preserves it from error and 
imposture. It is the mistiness and vacuousness of 
abstract expression that bewilders and deceives the 
understanding by detaching it from sense and the ob- 
jects of sense ; and shutting it up in metaphysical 
vacuo where intellect may languish a while but must 
ultimately perish if not extricated. We might as 
well suppose that children bound down with fetters 
and locked up in an iron dungeon would grow into 
giants and scale the heavens, as expect such men as 
Aristotle — the schoolmen — Kant and Stewart, to 
make important discovery. 

No one who has ever gone below the surface in 
the study of words and ideas, requires numerous rea- 
sons or high authorities to convince him of the futi- 
lity of common-place criticism concerning figurative 
language ; but it is pleasing to turn from the frothy 
discourse of mock-philosophers, and listen to the 
weighty, convincing reasonings of profound reflection. 
" Aristotle (says Bacon) when he thought to chas- 
tise, really commended Democritus in saying, • If he 
would dispute in earnest and not hunt after compa- 
risons,' &c. — as if he would tax Democritus with be- 
ing too full of comparisons : whereas they whose 
instructions are already grounded in popular opinion 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 227 

have nothing left them but to dispute and improve ; 
whilst others have a double task whose doctrines 
transcend the vulgar opinion ; viz. first to render 
what they deliver intelligible, and then to prove it. 
Whence they must of necessity have recourse to me- 
taphor, the better to enter the human capacity. For 
it is a rule in the doctrine of delivery, that every 
science which comports not with anticipations and 
prejudices must seek the assistance of similes and 
allusions." 

A presumptuous editor of this noble author (for 
a great man ma}^ fall into the hands of a vile execu- 
tioner) had the assurance to affix the following note 
to the above paragraph : " The reader will all along 
bear in mind that this was the situation of the au- 
thor in his time and on that score dispense with his 
figurative style ; though it may not be altogether so 
necessary at present, when we are more accustomed 
to think philosophically and freely/' The flippant, 
vaporing Voltaire, who was not worthy to stoop 
down and unloose the latchet of Bacon's sandal, 
makes similar petty criticisms on his figurative style. 
Dispense with the Jigurativeness of Bacon's style ! ! 
The reason — the utility — the necessity of it will re- 
main to eternity — unless human beings shall at last 
be dwindled down and worn away into thin, shadowy, 
metaphysical ghosts. 

Good Dugald Stewart is not only distressed about 
the true theory of the mind, but mightily concerned 
for the true philosophy of elegant composition. ' " I 

q2 



22b PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

have hardly met (says the above philosopher) with 
an individual habitually addicted to etymological 
studies, who wrote his own language with ease and 
elegance." Perhaps the style of those referred to 
was as clumsy and pedantic as his is flimsy and in- 
accurate ; but the style of Mr. Home Tooke will be 
remembered and esteemed when that of Dugald 
Stewart will be forgotten or despised: Light furni- 
ture may be all the vogue for fashionable minds : 
pretty, delicate erections may captivate the present 
race of literary amateurs ; but even the Gothic struc- 
tures will present their bold, lofty heads, hoary with 
age and venerable for antiquity, when the reigning 
mode has vanished away, leaving not a wreck be- 
hind, save a few little fragments in the finical cabi- 
net of the curious. Good taste and elegant diction 
are the insects of a season ; sound sense is immuta- 
ble and immortal. 

We hear much of ease, grace, elegance, taste and 
propriety from our literary fashionables ; but little 
of the bold, original and manly qualities of the un- 
derstanding and imagination. Monsieur Belles Let- 
ires must take care what sort of words he puts in his 
mouth : he must know none but people of fashion, 
and be ignorant of all life but high life. If he chance 
to have any concern with the vulgar people, and 
matters that lie east of Temple Bar, he must on no 
account whatever handle or mouth them ; but trans- 
act all business relating to them by pretty shrugs and 
elegant dumb-show — polite misnomers and delicate 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 229 

inuendos. He may be as weak, finical and senseless 
as possible, but he must not be so ill-bred as even 
Plato, the great father of polite literature, who in- 
troduced crocks and pitchers in discourses on philo- 
sophy ; — nor must he resemble Tucker, who, pre- 
ferring clearness and aptness to neatness and polite- 
ness, fetched comparisons from the stable and the 
scullery, when none occurred suitable to the purpose 
in the parlour or the drawing-room. Longinus in- 
deed has said, that a vulgar idea is sometimes more 
powerful and sublime than a polite one ; but the 
composer must for that very reason not employ it, 
for the sublimity of vulgarity must be horrible. 

It is granted that writers would be more free and 
bold if not restrained by the petty laws of petits 
maitres concerning the high concernments of light- 
ness and delicacy ; but freedom and boldness are ter- 
rible qualities to the exquisite sensibilities and deli- 
cate niceties of a finically refined age. It would shock 
tender intellects into hysterics to introduce such hor- 
rid ghosts as the images of vulgar objects and de- 
parted manners. The fond lover of polite literature 
would faint away in the arms of his mistress if -we 
were at any time, for any purpose, to stir up the 
sediment at the bottom of language. It would be 
necessary to fetch the Scotch Doctors and their col- 
lege smelling bottle to restore the olfactory delicacies 
of the patient. 

" May there not be some risk (says the worthy 
Professor, Stewart) that by such etymological studies 



230 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

the taste may lose more in the nicety of its discrimi- 
nation than the understanding gains in useful know- 
ledge/* It seems then that taste and the understand- 
ing are not twin graces, or two fond lovers. That is 
certainly a great pity; could the understanding be 
induced to take a fancy to taste, there might be some 
grand displays of gallantry between them, and a match 
might be ultimately accomplished. 

But seriously : — the understanding and taste are 
rivals ; in proportion as the understanding is preferred 
taste is disregarded ; in proportion as taste is prefer- 
red the understanding is enfeebled and enslaved : the 
mightiest intellect that ever pulled down the pillars 
of consecrated absurdity and established error would 
soon be shorn of its strength in the lap of this De- 
lilah. When our mighty, immortal authors wrote, 
taste was not even heard of : a century or half a cen- 
tury after (at the Restoration of the vile, foppish 
Stuarts just come out of the lap of French courte- 
zans) came creeping into literary existence a feeble, 
finical race, mawkishly puling about taste, as if they 
had no receptacle but their stomach, and no standard 
of excellence but their lolling, drivelling tongue, 
which has long ago indicated their helpless, disgust- 
ing fatuity to the whole world. 

There never was a true genius either before or af- 
ter Shakespear whom literary artizans and dancing- 
masters did not condemn as guilty of bad taste when 
tried by their petty laws ; but it is the high preroga- 
tive of such a genius to be a law to himself ; scorning 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 231 

every slavish yoke as much as the crutches and lead- 
ing-strings of infirm and childish minds. His works 
may contain deformity as well as beauty — rugged 
wastes and w 7 ilds as well as smooth and fertile plains; 
— but there is every where the simplicity — the ful- 
ness — the variety — the sublimity of creation : in the 
well-cultivated garden of polite literature there is no- 
thing but dull regularity and sickly exotics arranged 
according to arbitrary rules of propriety and clipped 
into a stiff or fantastic shape by the finical fingers of 
laborious dulness. 

All the faults of an original writer are amply com- 
pensated by great and numerous excellencies ; but 
no virtues can atone for the unpardonable sin of mere 
roting or repeating instead of inventing. Even the 
faults of those who give their thoughts fresh from the 
spring of original thinking are in general preferable 
to the excellencies of dull imitators ; and in speaking 
of the peculiarity of their faults we ought to say with 
Montesquieu — " Liberty is the glorious cause : it is 
liberty that gives human nature fair play, and allows 
every singularity to show itself ; and which for one 
less agreeable oddity it may bring to light, gives to 
the world ten thousand great and useful examples. " 

Before arbitrary principles and rules have become 
despotic original thinkers can be nobly singular with- 
out fear and without censure ; but after tyranny is 
fully established and generally acknowledged, even 
they must submit in the prescribed, the established, 
the authorised manner. Originality cannot exist un- 



232 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

der the deadly shade of despotism : slaves can neither 
think nor feel nor speak as free men. 

Mr. Stewart would not only have us abandon 
etymology, he would refine us out of the best half of 
our language : he would not only strip words of their 
original import, when wild in the woods of Germany ; 
he would banish many of them from good composi- 
tion for rudeness and vulgarity. Handle, he says, 
has not sufficient lightness and delicacy for fine writ- 
ing, and ought to be superseded by that fine, smooth 
Italian word treat, that can nicely touch the finest 
nerves of the most delicate ears, without causing the 
slightest jar or discord among their notions, 

" In short, (to adopt the words of a writer as sen- 
sible as original, when he does not plunge into 
unexamined depths or strut after Johnson) he would 
proscribe literary genius from every walk but high 
life ; which, though abounding in fools as well as the 
humblest station, is by no means so fruitful in ab- 
surdity, (or the means and materials of wit and hu- 
mour.) Among well-bred fools we may despise 
much, but have little to laugh at ; nature [art] 
seems to present a universal blank of silk, ribbons, 
smiles and whispers." Our polite literature is a 
mere silken blank of thin, polished, worn-out senti- 
ment and expression. 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 233 



WHOEVER WOULD WRITE WELL MUST HAVE NO 
RHYTHMUS OR TUNE OF COMPOSITION. 

The rhymers are all pretty singers, who soothe 
dainty ears with much sweet melody ; and in pro- 
portion as the art of rhyming is improved and refined, 
the sense is lost in the sound; for you cannot get the 
meaning of the song from the mouth of a fine singer. 
Pope is one of the sweet singers of polite literature ; 
and Wordsworth puts the dear baby to bed with such 
a sweet and sovereign lullaby, that I should wonder 
if it waked again before the morning of the resurrec- 
tion of genius : the mysticism of German and Scotch 
metaphysics, has been already introduced to give 
effect to the music of poetry, (for music has most 
effect in the stillness and darkness of night,) and the 
mists and clouds have only to thicken round the 
intellectual horizon, to involve the understanding in 
eternal night ; when the ghosts and dreams of diseased 
fancy will hold their uninterrupted revellings, mas- 
querades, balls, concerts, or literary converzationes. 

The music and harmony of composition are not 
wholly monopolized by the elegant rhymers — the 
prosers too have their favourite airs and respective 
tunes. Most of our historians have rhyme as well as 
reason in their composition. There is much of the 
roundelay in the far-famed pages of Robertson ; and 
not a little of the clinkum clankum in the profound 



231 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

compositions of Gibbon. Addison's composi- 
tion, the model of the middle style, is, in the Italian 
manner, very intricate, and as it were, carelessly 
irregular, (as meretricious charmers affect a careless, 
easy manner) ; but nevertheless much-laboured and 
fingered. The music of Johnson's composition is 
formed on one of the martial airs or marches of old 
Rome ; it strides and struts along with the true 
goose-step : it is high and sonorous — full of clattering 
arms and bristling spears. You might suppose, in- 
deed, the writings of Johnson to be the move pointed 
passages of Tacitus, Seneca, Sallust and Justin, done 
into English. The tune is a very easy and perhaps a 
very good one ; — but according to the common say- 
ing, there is too much of a good thing : the ears are 
constantly consulted, but they are surfeited and 
sickened with the author's favourite measure. We 
have no objection to be pricked on now and then 
with the point of antithesis, but it is rather too bad 
to be constantly goaded, as if we were dull, sluggish* 
literary asses. Such great masters of composition as 
Johnson, are not content to nail rare thoughts into 
our memory with pointed sentences, but treat it as 
if it were merely pincushion to the toilet of polite 
literature, which they might stick full of all sorts and 
sizes of useless points and conceits. 

The above is not, however, the greatest objection 
to a tune-composed style ; or a diction in which the 
words arc set to music : — the rhythmics affects the 
veracity and credibility of the composition. Socrates 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. $35 

is reported to have exclaimed on reading the dialogues 
of Plato : — " Ye gods, how many fine things has this 
young man made me say that I never uttered V 3 How 
many fine words are put into fine compositions merely 
because they were wanted to point or round the sen- 
tences to the fancy of the author ! as unmeaning 
particles and elegant expletives are put into sublime 
poesies, merely to supply them with beautiful chime 
that the rhyme may beat time ; or to make up the 
full complement of feet, to enable them to hobble or 
crawl along the straight line of euphony. 

Perhaps the reader will say — is it not possible to 
make good sound an echo or companion to good sense? 
Just as impossible as it is to secure equal attention 
to the meaning of the song and the tune to which it 
is sung. The tune was originally shade, echo, or 
accompaniment to the meaning, but continued to 
gain ascendency till sound became, instead of echo, 
extinguisher of the sense. Meaning and euphony are 
like the two opposite scales of a balance — as the one 
rises the other sinks. 



THE STUDY OF LANGUAGE IS A NECESSARY' PRE- 
PARATIVE TO GOOD COMPOSITION. 

This is so self-evident, that had it not been for 
some remarks of the rhetorical metaphysicling, I 
should have deemed the statement wholly superflu- 
ous, as a mere truism. It would be as reasonable, 



236 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY, 

indeed, to deny that the study of telescopes is of any 
utility to the science of astronomy — that an acquaint- 
ance with philosophical instruments is at all subser- 
vient to philosophical discovery — or that a thorough 
knowledge of the tools of any art facilitates practical 
skilfulness and expertness, as to question whether 
philology be subservient to good composition — and 
what is far more important, true knowledge and 
sound opinion. It is true that some very ready per- 
formers may not know much of the principles of 
music or nature of musical instruments ; so some may 
play very dexterously with words in making rhetori- 
cal harmony or pretty composition, who know no- 
thing of the principles and structure of language : 
the Blairs, Beatties and Stewarts are performers of 
this description ; but the question is, did they ever 
do any thing but play with language ? Could they 
ever experiment with it as an instrument of science ? 
Were they to cant about composition to eternity, 
would they be able to compose a single paragraph in 
the style of Bacon, Hobbes, or Home Tooke ? 

Not only is language in general an instrument of 
science — words are intellectual tools by which the 
business of thinking and communication of thought 
is performed : this seems now pretty well understood 
by real thinkers : Locke was fully aware of it, though 
rather too late to render his Essay as clear, definite 
and useful as it might have; been. " When, (says 
Mr. Locke) I first began this discourse of the un- 
derstanding, and a good while after, I had not the 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY* 937 

least idea that any consideration of words was at all 
necessary (it is strange that this mistake has been so 
general, for it is stumbling at the very threshold of 
philosophy) ; but when having passed over the ori- 
ginal and composition of our ideas, I began to exa- 
mine the extent and certainty of our knowledge, I 
found that it had so near a connexion with words, 
that unless their force and manner of signification 
were first well observed, there could be very little 
said clearly and pertinently concerning knowledge." 

" lam apt to imagine, that were the imperfec- 
tions [and perfections] of language, as the instrument 
of knowledge more thoroughly weighed and more 
duly considered, a great many of the controversies 
that make so much noise in the world, would of 
themselves cease, and the way to knowledge and 
perhaps peace too lie a great deal opener than it does. 
The consideration then of ideas and words, as the 
great instruments of knowledge, makes no despicable 
part of their contemplation, who would take a view 
of human knowledge in the whole extent of it. And 
perhaps if they were distinctly weighed and duly 
considered, they would afford us another kind of logic 
and critic than we have hitherto been acquainted 
with." 

Had Locke made the important discovery relative 
to the medium of thought, the instrument of know- 
ledge ; or rather had he attended to the doctrine of 
Bacon, Hobbes, Wilkins and others on the subject 
before he began his Essay, it wouhj have been more 



238 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

valuable to the world and a nobler monument of his 
correct judgment, patient reflection, and persevering 
industry.* The defects of his workmanship are solely 
owing to the defectiveness of his instrument, or rather 
his unskilfulness in the nature and use of the intel- 
lectual tools. He had the stamina of a good writer 
as well as sound thinker ; but he did not sufficiently 
study the signs of ideas — the medium of thought ; and 
he ended his Essay at the beginning of his subject. 
Yet strange as it is, and though Mr. Locke like many 
of his readers was not aware of it, his Essay on the 
Understanding was more a treatise on words than 
ideas. The truth is, they cannot be treated of apart: 
we might as well attempt to take the soul and body 
asunder and dissect them separately, to discover the 
principle of life and the nature of mind, as attempt to 
treat intelligibly of ideas apart from words, or of words 
apart from ideas. 

Mr. Home Tooke pronounces the Essay concern- 
ing the Human Understanding a treatise on grammar; 
and it is certainly as much entitled to that denomina- 
tion as an other ; but (as he justly remarks), who 
would have read it or talked of it, (for I fear there is 
much mere talk in the business,) had it been called 
by a more proper name — had it not professed to con- 
tain the noble theme of the Understanding ? Such 

* Mr. Stewart and similar critics speak of Mr. Locke's wonderful 
originality — powerful and creative genius! But the first article of their 
creed is, that words arc arbUrari/, insignificant siyns — unmeaning patches ; 
and their practice proves their faith. 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 239 

dignitaries of intellect as Dugald Stewart would have 
considered it below the dignity of philosophy ; and " be- 
longing to the same branch of literature with that which 
furnishes a large proportion of the materials of our com- 
mon lexicons and etymological dictionaries. " These 
giants of Belles Lettres and Fathers of Orthodox meta- 
physics can reach the airy summits of intellectualp/i^io- 
mena, and the cloud-capt pinnacles of the philosophy 
of mind without being: indebted to hard climbing; and 
sure footing : they are as light and vacuous as they 
are tall and powerful, and can trip over the vasty 
deep of unideal vacuity without sinking to the bot- 
tom ; while their delicate fingers are busy putting 
insignificant words into pretty composition, as un- 
meaning patches are formed into a beautiful anamor- 
phosis. And what is more, they can make a furious 
outcry about religion, like their master Plato and his 
frothy, raving discipleTully', who, like Dugald Stewart, 
was so outrageously mad at the idea of the true theory 
of the soul being in danger, that he could not write 
sensibly on the subject. 

Every one who has compared them must have 
perceived how inferior Locke is to his great original ; 
for though he was a judicious borrower, he was no- 
thing of an inventor: his inferiority to his original 
may be partly attributed to his copying instead of 
inventing, for the borrower must be poorer than the 
lender; but I apprehend the chief cause of the 
difference in question to be, that the one had stu- 
died language deeply — the other, for a long time 



240 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

at least, wholly neglected this study of studies — this 
fundamentally essential and important kind of learn- 
ing. Among all our original thinkers, no one was a 
more determined and formidable adversary to the 
mysticism and jargon of the schoolmen, than the 
philosopher of Malmsbury. Mr. Stewart, with all 
the littleness of a college monk, brings the old ever- 
lasting charge (with which true philosophers have 
been persecuted), of atheism against him, and espe- 
cially against his etymology. We have nothing to do 
here with his aberrations, (and what human mind was 
ever infallible ?) but it is evident that he could not 
have been so clear a thinker and definite a writer 
without the help of etymology ; for as he justly re- 
marks, " the most necessary and important study is 
the study of words :" — " etymologies are not defini- 
tions, but the best helps to definitions." 

Persons of crude knowledge and ill-digested opi- 
nions, think to proclaim their philosophic sagacity 
by exaggerating the importance of the study of things, 
and depreciating the dignity and value of the study 
of words. Johnson, in his usual antithetic manner, 
thought himself repeating (for he was saying after an 
ancient authority), a sentiment exceedingly profound, 
supremely excellent or extra-superfine, when ar- 
guing that we ought to pay more attention to thought 
than expression, he said: " Words are of earth but 
things are of heaven." But for the very reason that 
words are not divine but human, much attention to 
them is necessary; because being, like every thing 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 241 

human, imperfect and liable to corruption and per- 
version, they occasion, without constant care, much 
mistake,* deception, absurdity, folly and mischief. 
Things themselves are in general simple and uniform : 
it is the medium through which they are viewed that 
renders them obscure, or shows them crooked,- — 
double — in false colours, magnitudes and relations : 
it is the medium of vision or perception that occa- 
sions all our illusions, false opinions, mental misti- 
ness and confusion ; and therefore it is more neces- 
sary to study the mediums than the objects of our 
knowledge. 

The words of the Philosopher of Malmsbury, are 
so much to the present purpose, that I shall not hesi- 
tate to quote them ; for I should despise myself if I 
could be deterred from receiving the sound opinion 
and solid reasoning of a true philosopher, by any bi- 
goted clamour of blind zealots : — " Seeing then, that 
truth, (says Hobbes) consisteth in the right ordering 
of names in our affirmations, a man that seeketh pre- 
cise truth had need to remember what every name he 
uses stands for, and to place it accordingly ; else he 
will find himself entangled in words, as a bird in lime 
twigs ; the more he struggles the more belimed. 
And therefore in Geometry (the only science it hath 
pleased God hitherto to bestow on mankind), men. 
begin at settling the significations of their words ; 
which settling of significations they call definitions, 
and place them in the beginning of their reckoning, 

" By this it appears how necessary it is for any 

R 



242 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

man that aspires to true knowledge to examine the 
definitions of former authors ; and either correct them 
where they are negligently set down or make them 
himself. For the errors of definitions multiply them- 
selves as the reckoning proceeds ; and leads men into 
absurdities, which at last they see but cannot avoid 
without reckoning anew from the beginning; in 
which lies the foundation of their errors. From 
whence, it happens, that they which trust to books, 
do as they that cast up many little sums into a greater, 
without considering whether those little sums were 
rightly cast up or not ; and at last finding the error 
visible, and not mistrusting their first grounds, know 
not which way to clear themselves ; but spend time 
in fluttering over their books, as birds that entering 
by the chimney and finding themselves enclosed in a 
chamber, flutter at the false light of a glass window 
for want of wit to consider which way they came in. 
So that in the right definition of names lies the first 
use of speech, which is the acquisition of science. 
And in wrong or no definitions lies the first abuse; 
from which proceed all false and senseless tenets, 
which make those men that take their instruction 
from the authority of books and not from their own 
meditation, to be as much below the condition of 
ignorant men, as those endued with true science are 
above it. For between true science and erroneous 
doctrines, ignorance is in the middle. Natural sense 
and imagination are not subject to absurdity. Na- 
mrr itself cannot err: and as men abound in copious- 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 243 

ness of language, so they become more wise or more 
mad than ordinary. Nor is it possible without let- 
ters, for any man to become either excellently wise 
or (unless his memory be hurt b}^ disease or ill-con- 
stitution of organs), excellently foolish. For words 
are wise men's counters ; they do but reckon by 
them : but they are the money of fools that value 
them by the authority of an Aristotle, a Cicero, or 
any other Doctor/' 

The importance of this subject could not escape 
that clear, comprehensive and profound thinker, I 
had almost said, that omniscient philosopher, Bacon, 
" The idols of the market, (says that wonderful intel- 
ligence,) give the greatest disturbance ; and from a 
tacit agreement among mankind, with regard to the 
imposition of ivords and names, insinuate themselves 
into the understanding : for words are generally given 
according to vulgar conception, and divide things by 
such differences as the common people are capable 
of: but when a more acute understanding, or a more 
careful observation would distinguish things better, 
words murmur against it. The remedy of this lies 
in definitions, but these themselves are in many cases 
irremediable, as consisting of words : for words ge- 
nerate words, however men may imagine they have a 
command over words ; and can easily say they will 
speak with the vulgar and think with the wise. 
Terms of art also, which prevail only among the 
skilful, -may seem to remedy the mischief; and defi- 
nitions premised to arts in the prudent mathematical 

r 2 



244- PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

manner, to correct the wrong acceptation of words: 
yet all this is insufficient to prevent the seducing 
incantation of names in numerous respects, their 
doing violence to the understanding and recoiling 
upon it from whence they proceeded. This evil, 

THEREFORE, REQUIRES A NEW AND DEEPER RE- 
MEDY." 

Every sentence of this great master of wisdom, 
proves him to have studied ivords as much as thoughts 
and things ; and that he employed words as honest 
interpreters of nature— not as false witnesses against 
truth, or pretty play-things to amuse childish under- 
standings ; for he was not a bigoted theorist employ- 
ing pious frauds, or finical rhetorician playing with 
words as babies with insects. It were as vain, indeed, 
to expect true philosophy or substantial good writing 
from men who neglect and depreciate the study of 
language, as it would be to expect mathematical 
science from persons that have never attended to ma- 
thematical signs and instruments. 

The opinion of a rational dignitary on this subject 
deserves to be quoted. " This design (says Wilkins 
in his Inquiry into a Real Character) will likewise 
contribute much to the clearing of some of our mo- 
dern differences by unmasking many wild errors that 
shelter themselves under the disguise of affected 
phrases; which being philosophically unfolded ac- 
cording to the genuine and natural import of words 
will appear to be inconsistencies and contradictions: 
and several of those pretended mysteries and profound 






PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 2vio 

notions expressed in great swelling words, whereby 
some men set up for reputation being this way ex- 
amined w r ill appear to be either nonsense or very flat 
and jejune. And though it be of no other use but 
this, yet were it well worth a man's pains to study 
language considering the common mischief that is 
done, and the many impostures and cheats that are 
put upon men under the disguise of affected, insigni- 
ficant phrases." 

The sentiments of the ingenious and original Tuck- 
er are worthy of appearing in the same pages with 
those already given. " I am persuaded (says Tucker) 
that in cases of the highest importance we may often 
arrive, if not at mathematical demonstration, yet at 
a degree of evidence that shall command as full and 
merit as unreserved an assent. This persuasion will 
lead me now and then to bestow more time than I 
could wish upon the signification of words : such 
disquisitions I fear may appear tedious to many not- 
withstanding that no pains in my power shall be 
spared to render them easy, smooth and palatable ; 
but I hope to find excuse in the absolute necessity 
of the thing. For without accuracy of language it is 
impossible to convey a chain of close reasoning to 
others, or even to be sure of carrying it on unbroken 
ourselves ; because we must always deliver our con- 
ceptions in words, and for the most part we think 
in words/' " Wherefore in these sciences philology 
must go along With philosophy, not as partner or 
companion, but attendant or handmaid. For the 



§46 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY, 

knowledge of things is our principal aim, and criti- 
cism no further than shall be found expedient to 
secure our meditations against confusion, and our 
discourses against misapprehension." 

The Kants and Stewarts are not worthy of appear- 
ing in company with the above philosophers, else I 
would now introduce some of their cobweb notions 
to show how soon their light, exquisite, delicate con- 
texture is completely spoiled by a mere straw or 
breath of argument. If they would have the true 
theory exempted from the certain danger of being 
brushed out of existence, they must keep it snug in 
the vacuo and mistiness of abstraction ; weaving it 
round with metaphysical composition made up of 
words as insignificant as the letters of the alphabet : if 
they creep out into broad day-light, they will be seen 
and caught as sure as they are metaphysical spiders 
and rhetorical silkworms. 

The meaning of words is evidently of great impor- 
tance in every department of knowlege : etymology 
is to the meaning of words what chemistry is to the 
qualities of substances. Chemical experiments are 
not always absolutely certain, but they are the surest 
means of arriving at certain knowledge of the proper- 
ties of substances : etymological investigation may 
not in every instance dissipate the obscurities of 
words ; but it is the surest means of rendering their 
signification char and certain. No one that wishes 
to be considered a thinker would hazard the reputa- 
tion of his understanding by disputing or depreciat- 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 247 

ing the utility and dignity of chemistry : etymology 
is equally important to science while it is equally 
susceptible of absolute certainty ; at least, though 
much neglected hitherto, it is already more allied, 
to chemistry than to alchymy. Etymology has been 
the alchymy, but shall be the chemistry of language; 
whose experimenting processes will refine away the 
dross of philosophy — purify intellect— simplify and 
abridge the methods of learning and acquisition of 
knowledge — expose the gilded basenesss of counter- 
feit eloquence — detect the pious frauds of the school- 
men — -the verbal tricks of the sophists — the subtle 
imposture of juggling metaphysics — displode and dis- 
sipate the stagnant vapours and mistiness which have 
so long hung around the mental atmosphere — car- 
rying a blaze of light into every corner of every de- 
partment of science and region of discovery. All 
this and much more than can be expressed in a brief, 
rapid sketch would be accomplished by a proper 
Etymological Dictionary, which petty thinklings — 
quackish pretenders affect to despise as a mere 
school-book below the dignity of philosophy \ 



248 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY, 



ONE RULE OF COMPOSITION IS NECESSARY, AND 
THAT ONE RULE IS SUFFICIENT: LET THE 
COMPOSER CONSTANTLY ENDEAVOUR TO EX- 
PRESS HIS MEANING IN AS FEW WORDS AS 

POSSIBLE. 

• 

This rule is so useful and necessary that I cannot 
conceive it possible for any one to compose readily 
and excellently without its assistance. The con- 
ceptions of the author are exceedingly apt to be en- 
tangled and oppressed by verbality ; and the best 
means of obtaining a clear, full view and firm hold 
of an idea is to throw away as mere incumbrance 
every word and syllable not necessary to its existence. 
When I find my thoughts less free and distinct — 
more confused and oppressed than usual, I am im- 
mediately convinced that there is too great a crowd 
of words around them ; — and the moment I begin to 
disperse the multitude, I see my way clear — I feel 
as if coming out of a thicket into the open plain, or 
as when my view is gradually brightened and en- 
larged by the melting or rolling away of the mists 
that had hung around the atmosphere. It is with 
conceiving and expressing thought as it is with tra- 
velling: the shortest cut is the straightest direction ; 
and he who takes the straightest course proceeds to 
the point proposed with most ease and certainty : in- 
direct and meandering paths are most apt to bewil- 
der and mislead the steps of the passenger. 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 249 

What tends to clear and simplify the conceptions 
of the writer must tend also to assist the perceptions 
of the reader : as clear expression is inseparably con- 
nected with distinct conception ; so a quick and just 
perception of the meaning is as certainly connected 
with perspicuous composition as a distinct and bold 
image of our face is with a bright mirror or pure 
fountain. 

Many mistakes respecting concise and diffuse styles 
are afloat on the current of common, traditionary, 
authorised opinion. Of all these errors that is the 
most erroneous which supposes the short-cut of style 
most liable to obscurity, and the long round-about 
style most likely to be clear and definite ; for it is 
evident in almost every page of every book that ob- 
scureness, equivocalness, and indefmiteness are the 
natural offspring not of conciseness but difFuseness. 
It is true that lawyers who have been always law- 
framers proceed on the principle, that the more 
words the better, as if they could prosecute and com- 
pel composition into perspicuity and definiteness by 
a crowd of tautologies and circumlocutions ; but af- 
ter all, their craft would be in no small danger if le- 
gal writings were made to lean as much to the ex- 
treme of brevity as they have hitherto done to that 
of prolixity. True, indeed, composition maybe ob- 
scure and even unintelligible because too concise ; 
for who will deny that there may be a deficiency as 
well as superfluity of words ? The question is, on 
what side do writers most frequently err? It re- 



230 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

quires very little attention to the subject to perceive 
that the general fault is that of verbosity. 

Some concise styles are bad (this has nothing to 
do with the question) ; yet the advantages of a con- 
cise over a diffuse style are many : brevity and di- 
rectness save time and labour and expense, which 
are no unimportant considerations where there is 
much writing, transcribing, printing, reading, re- 
peating and roting. It is presumed that the last re- 
mark will rivet conviction in the roters ; for they 
must have experienced how difficult and laborious 
it is to commit and retain the diffuse and straggling 
sentences of the favourite models. I would rather 
rote off all the volumes of Bacon and Hobbes than 
a single chapter of Locke or page of Addison. A 
skilful builder can construct a good, sufficient, well- 
proportioned, well-compacted edifice out of few ma- 
terials : a good packer can put much value, and even 
much quantity into little bulk ; and in proportion 
to the smallness of the bundle or parcel, is it more 
conveniently handled and carried. Quantity and 
value, bulk and strength, or solidity, are so differ- 
ent as to be invmost instances contraries. Chaff, 
straw and stubble are bulky commodities, (and 
useless words in composition are as chaff in grain) 
pure grain, gold, silver and precious gems are com- 
prehended in small compass. Johnson's composi- 
tion will perhaps be referred to as a specimen of con- 
< im m ss and strength ; but it is not a fair example : 
it lias mure sound than sense — more bulk than 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 951 

strength : it is ponderous rather than solid, and clum- 
sy rather than well-compacted ; and its eternal mo- 
notony of antithetic chime indicates humming rather 
than thinking. If the ear or understanding be once 
surfeited with the style of Johnson, perpetual dis- 
taste is the certain consequence. I gave at one time 
my days and nights to the volumes of Johnson : fre- 
quently have I attempted to revive my first fondness 
— the love of my youth : but I could not succeed — 
my taste or distaste, my ears, eyes, understanding, or 
something in and about me, absolutely kecks at the 
Doctor's doses. 

It has been justly remarked by Home Tooke, that 
a concise style serves the purposes of a map on a re- 
duced scale, which enables us to take in numerous 
particulars and important relations at one view that 
would wholly escape our notice if spread out on a 
wide surface ; but what is most important to remark 
on this subject : brevity or directness is the 

NATURAL ALLY OF TRUTH ; DIFFUSENESS IS 
THE NATURAL ALLY OF ERROR: truth IS simple 

and direct as a straight line ; error is involved and 
crooked as the windings of the serpent. Verbal ity 
is the covering which such quack philosophers as 
Kant and Stewart put over their poor, naked, false 
theories ; simplicity is the seal of truth. My only 
regret at hurrying the present work (for I have com- 
posed much of it at full speed, with the compositors 
at my heels) is, that I have not had time to discover 
and strike out some hundreds more of unnecessary 



252 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

words. As to the opinions, reasons and reasonings 
of the work, I should despise them if they were such 
as to require much guarding, with that finical kind of 
accuracy which consists in many careful touches and 
cautious retouches of the composition. 



( 953 ) 



PART V. 

A STANDARD OF ORTHOGRAPHY ESTABLISHED. 

xHIS part will not detain us long ; for I mean to 
confine my proofs and illustrations within the com- 
pass of a few instances. Perhaps, indeed, some are 
already alarmed lest the established order of English 
Orthography be disturbed, unsettled and overturned; 
but a very little reflection (if any reflection be neces- 
sary), will convince them that whatever may be 
established there is no order, simplicity, regularity or 
reasonableness in English Orthography ; — all is 
wildly irregular and capriciously absurd. At one 
time there was something like simplicity and uni- 
formity in English spelling ; but later authors and 
lexicographers seem to have thought that they could 
not pursue too devious a course, or adopt too capri- 
cious a mode. The only question is, shall their ab- 
surdity be consecrated into immortality ? Shall that 
usage which has been introduced and established be 
rendered perpetual ? I wish, if possible, to accom- 
plish a needful reform in our orthography ; and if 
men are so bigoted to present usage or established 
folly, as obstinately to refuse any alteration even in 
these matters, any important improvement is hope- 



254 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

less : the slaves of authority — the disciples of cus- 
tom — the literary bigots are not worth reasoning with. 
I do not pretend to legislate but to point out the 
true principles of legislation. True etymology ought 
to regulate orthography ; and the intention of my 
reasonings is to unfold the nature and establish the 
authority of true etymology. 

Perhaps no one has studied the pronunciation and 
spelling of the English language so much as Mr. 
Walker ; and that author has justly remarked : "Our 
orthography is not only an insuperable difficulty to 
foreigners, but an eternal source of dispute and per- 
plexity to ourselves ; and though it would be in vain 
to think of removing every intricacy [why vain ?] 
that is constantly arising from indolence and caprice, 
yet that a considerable number may be remedied by 
a view of the general laws of formation will be read- 
ily conceived by those who enquire into the origin 
of the difficulties complained of. By an affectation 
of approximating to the orthography of the learned 
languages we have rooted out many useful letters 
that sprung up naturally with exotic words, and have 
been led to exclude all letters in our compounds 
which are not actually pronounced, though their ex- 
istence in these words is often no less necessary to 
prevent ambiguity than in the simples themselves. 
Thus the useful servile e. is hardly ever suffered to 
have a place in composition, though from a feeling 
of its importance we are almost intuitively tempted 
to let it remain in the branches whenever we recol- 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 955 

lect it in the root. The omission or insertion of this 
occasions a numerous catalogue of rules and excep- 
tions. The other serviles /, s, &c. are no less ab- 
surdly omitted in composition, though their power 
remains, and by this means both orthography and 
pronunciation are confounded. The duplication of 
consonants when an additional termination is assum- 
ed forms another difficulty in our terminational or- 
thography, as it may be called, which has embar- 
rassed the most correct and accurate writers." 

This is the lan^ua^e of sense and reflection. It is 
surprising (if indeed any kind of human folly can sur- 
prise one who has looked long and much around him 
in the world) how absurdly men persevere in perplex- 
ing methods without ever stopping to enquire w here- 
in the evil consists, or how it may be rectified. Boys 
are actually several years in learning to spell the 
English language (what with a simple, uniform, ra- 
tional orthography might be learned in a few weeks, 
or at most, a few months) ; nor are they then, or 
indeed to the end of life, certain about the proper 
spelling of some words. As if it were of no impor- 
tance to prevent useless learning, and render language 
simple and easy ; we seem to think it cannot be ren- 
dered too perplexing and difficult. The evil com- 
plained of indeed is like all the other evils connected 
with mistakes concerning language — wholly attribu- 
table to the neglect of rational etymology. 

" To detect (says Mr. Walker) the orthographical 
irregularities of our language it will be necessary first- 



2o6 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

to lay down such general maxims in spelling as have 
almost universally taken place. By these we may 
judge of the impropriety of those deviations which 
are owing perhaps to a want of seeing the laws of 
formation as here exhibited, and knowing how far 
the irregularity extends." The aphorisms laid down 
by the above sensible and meritorious author I 
shall examine ; for though he thought the evil 
he complained of too deep to be remedied, and there- 
fore endeavoured to bring the absurdity into a fixed 
and regular shape, I cannot perceive why it may not 
be cut up by the roots at once instead of being 
established for ever. 

" Monosyllables (says Mr. Walker) ending with/, 
/, or s, preceded by a single vowel, double the final 
consonant \ as staff, mill, pass, &c." 

This is according to general practice ; but there is 
no reasonableness or utility in the practice : double 
/. and double /, &c. used to be pronounced differ- 
ently (as they still are in some dialects) from single 
/. and single /, &c. ; but as there is now no differ- 
ence whatever in the power of the double and single 
form of the same letter, why double it uselessly ? 
If it were for no other purpose than to save time, 
labour, trouble and expense, it would be of impor- 
tance to drop the superfluous letter ; and as the omis- 
sion of it would greatly simplify the orthography of 
our language, it ought manifestly to be omitted. 

There is something like a reason indeed for retain- 
ing the double ss. as it is usually pronounced differ- 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 25J 

ently from the single form of the same letter ; as his, 
hiss ; as, ass. It should be observed, however, that 
either z. or single s. is superfluous, as they have both 
one sound ; thus is has the same sound as if it were 
spelt iz, &c. The z. is rather an alien than a native 
in the English language, and might be very easily 
expelled as a nuisance or cumberer : and I would 
move (hoping the practice of every good writer will 
second the motion) that the following be adopted as 
the principles of English orthography. 



FIRST PRINCIPLE OF ENGLISH ORTHOGRAPHY, 
THAT NO SUPERFLUOUS LETTER IN ANY SYLLA- 
BLE OF ANY WORD BE RETAINED. 

Thus instead of staff spell staf ; and for mill put 
mil, &c. 



SECOND PRINCIPLE OF ENGLISH ORTHOGRAPHY. 
THAT THE SPELLING OF THE SAME WORD BE 
NOT CHANGED IN ANY CONNEXION. 

Why should y. be changed into i. , in so many 
words ; as spy into spies, instead of spys ; carry into 
carrier, instead of carryer, or rather caryer ; pay into 
paid, instead of payed, &c. ? Mr. Walker justly calls 
this an unaccountable caprice. It is a caprice that 

s 



258 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

serves no one purpose whatever but to render or- 
thography difficult and perplexing. 



THIRD PRINCIPLE OF ORTHOGRAPHY. LETTERS 
OUGHT NOT TO BE DROPPED OR SUPPRESSED 
WHEN THE WORD TO WHICH THEY BELONG 
IS COMPOUNDED WITH OTHER WORDS OR PAR- 
TICLES. 

The following instances are all at variance with 
the above principle : duly, truly, instead of truely 
duely ; wholly instead of wholely ; chastly, chastness, 
for chastely, chasteness ; blamable, curable, sensible, 
for blameable, cureable, &c. &c. 

The reason of the above principle is obvious : such 
capricious and irregular omissions of letters, as in 
duly, truly, wholly, &c. can serve no purpose what- 
ever but to render spelling difficult and perplexing. 



fourth principle. — Letters ought not to be 

NEEDLESSLY ASSUMED. 

The general practice of spelling on which the fol- 
lowing Ai»iiortsm of Mr. Walker is founded, is at 
variance with the foregoing principle: — " Words 
ending with ;t single consonant, preceded by a single 
vowel and with the accent on the last syllable, upon 
assuming an additional syllable beginning with a 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 259 

rowel ory. double the consonant, as to abet, an abet- 
tor ; to begin, a beginning ; a fen, fenny ; thin, thin- 
nish, &c." 

This is a most uncertain and perplexing rule, 
which not only occasions much trouble to learners, 
but even to old practitioners in the business of ortho- 
graphy ; hence some spell worshipping, counselling, 
bigotted, &c. instead of worshiping, counseling, bigoted, 
though the accent be not on the syllable in which the 
letter is doubled. " Why, (says Mr. Walker) we 
should write libelling, levelling, revelling, I am totally 
at a loss to determine ; and unless /. can give a better 
plea than any other letter in the alphabet, for being 
doubled in this situation I must, in the style of Lu- 
cian, in his trial of the letter T., declare for an expul- 
sion/' This is all very good so far as it goes, only it 
does not go far enough. Why not declare for an ex- 
pulsion of all supernumeraries, idlers, and cumberers ? 
The reason why the consonant was ever doubled in 
such instances as abettor, beginner, &c. is obvious 
enough : it was intended to indicate the accent or 
stress laid on that syllable, but such indication is 
wholely unnecessary ; for the accent was sufficiently 
understood to be on that syllable before the consonant 
was doubled. 



s % 



2()0 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 



FIFTH PRINCIPLE. THE FINALS. SHOULD BE EM- 
PLOYED SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF LENGTH- 
ENING THE PRECEDING VOWEL AND SOFTEN- 
ING g\ c. ; as in mate, mite, note, mute, mete, &c. ; 
bulge, mince, &c. 

In such instances as the foregoing, the final e. has 
real use ; in all other instances it is worse than use- 
less ; such as love, give, &c. In almost every case 
when /. occurs in the last syllable of a word e. is ab- 
surdly enough" put after instead of before it ; as battle, 
trouble, dribble, &c. ; instead of battel or batel, trou- 
bel, dribbel or dribel. The reason of the thing, as 
well as regard for learners, especially foreigners, 
plainly shows what mode ought to be adopted. 



SIXTH PRINCIPLE. — SUPERFLUOUS SPELLINGS FOR 
THE SAME SOUND SHOULD BE AVOIDED. 

The above principle is exceedingly comprehensive, 
having relation to vowels and diphthongs the ever- 
teeming sources of useless, troublesome variety — 
that gouty, dropsical copice verborum, which corrupted 
dialects and disordered dictionaries exhibit so pom- 
pously. It will require a dictionary to show the full 
extent and importance of the principle above stated ; 
for I <lo not write unadvisedly in adding, that two- 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 26l 

thirds of Johnson's mountitudinous pile of lexicogra- 
phy are merely useless spellings. 

I object not to such varied spellings as serve 
the purpose of ellipsis ; head, heed, hood, hat, hod, 
and many others are merely varied spellings (answer- 
ing to varied pronunciations) of the same word, taken 
in different views and relations, or employed for dif- 
ferent purposes : in a proper dictionary, however, all 
such forms of the same word would be collected or 
grouped into one view. 

It is well known to those who have attended in the 
slightest degree to the subject, that when the final 
syllable of a word is unaccented, the quality of the 
sound is so indeterminate as to be indicated with 
equal precision by any of the vowels:* thus lover 
might have been spelt lovar, lovor, lovir, lovur ; reason 
might have been spelt reasan, reasen, reasin, reasun ; 
servant might be spelt servent, servont, servint, servant. 
The quality of the sound being in all such cases so 
uncertain, that it cannot be expressed to the eye 
with more definiteness by one vowel than another ; 
the only consideration is to adopt a certain uniform 
manner of spelling, to render the orthography of the 
language simple and easy. We have an, en, on; ar, 
er, or, ir, ar, &c. ; ad, ed, id, &c. as terminations ; 

* The reader may consult the Principles of English Pronunciation, 
prefixed to Walker's Pronouncing Dictionary ; where he will find the 
subject as philosophically treated, as it is possible to treat the Proteus of 
pronunciation: the only fault of the author's reasonings is, that they are 
not sufficiently etymological. 



%6 L 2 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

but as er, en, ed, are the general, they ought to be 
the uniform manner : beggar should be spelt begger, 
or rather beger like lover, baker, foewer, &c. ; author, 
actor, and such words should also be spelt anther, 
acter. Instead of some terminations being ant, and 
others ent, as servant, regent, they ought to be uni- 
formly servent, regent, &c. ; instead of some being on 
and others en, as blazon, blazen, they ought to be 
uniformly en, as, in leaven, golden, &c. 

The only reason that can be given for the above 
useless, troublesome diversity, is far from being rea- 
sonable. Foreign words, it seems, must be spelt and 
pronounced in a foreign manner. They may have 
been settlers in the English language a thousand 
years ; but they are on no account to be naturalized: 
they have, like parsons and Jews, an indelible cha- 
racter ; they are to be aliens in English to all eternity. 
In no dialect has there been so much of this foolish 
affectation (for it is like our other literary absurdity 
— a bastard propriety begot by vanity on superficial 
knowledge,) as in English ; to which ignorance and 
senselessness have given the whimsical appearance 
of a harlequin's jacket, or rather the wretched cha- 
racter of a beggar's coat, bunglingly pieced up of 
patches from all the dialects of the world. In this 
view it may be considered the Clootz, (or Clouts) — 
the orator of the human race come to harangue mo- 
dern philology in the name of all the dialects of the 
earth, 

It may be said — our language is actually made up 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 263 

of all languages ; and much nonsense has been 
retailed concerning this matter, some boasting of it 
as an excellence, and others deploring it as a fault. 
Both these extremes of silly criticism meet in. the 
point of ignorance concerning the subject. I mean 
not to rectify vulgar errors on the subject in this 
place ; it is sufficient to remark, that the sole reason 
why the English language has a more grotesque, 
harlequin, beggarly, borrowing, patched-up appear- 
ance than its neighbours is, that it has been more 
absurdly treated — more whimsically pronounced and 
spelt. As to substantial excellence — true greatness, 
the English language can look down on the petit s 
maitres of France, Italy and Greece, like Hercules 
on Adonis, and scornfully say, " There is no divinity 
in thee." There was something of Doric dignity 
that might have vied with the Gothic, about the old 
Roman in his freest republican age ; but the Corin- 
thian graces and airs of the little things that play 
about the lap of Venus — that strut about the stage of 
life with true elegance, and buzz about the fine arts, 
the Belles Lettres, and the- easiest manner of running 
in the harness of rules, and bearing the burden of op- 
pression and the lash of criticism, — the language of 
the musicians, dancing-masters, perfumers, frizzlers, 
gilders, picture-connoisseurs, farce-amateurs, doll- 
dealers, &c. &c. &c. is so very different from the 
rude, barbarous style of Gothic or Herculean think- 
ers, that it would not be fair to contrast their differ- 
ent excellencies. 



264 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

Among the numerous and almost innumerable su- 
perfluous spellings of the same sound, the following 
deserve to be noted with a view to salutary retrench- 
ment : ay, ey, ai, ei, as in pray, prey, vail, veil, &c. 
None but those who have looked only a little way 
into language, will think such varieties useful. In 
dropping superfluous forms of words we should be 
guided by etymology : that form only should be re- 
tained which indicates most distinctly the derivation 
of the word, or the tribe of words to which it belongs: 
ay is the general form in our language, rather than ey, 
ai or ei, and it is more nearly related to the parent 
form ag than any of the other kindred forms of 
the same descent : oy and oi come under the fore- 
going remarks : ee, ea, ie, eo, are employed to denote 
the same sound ; the first is the general, and there- 
fore most rightful form ; and it is the most rational, 
because the most certain and intelligible method 
of expressing long e. is ee ; the letter being 
doubled, which is pronounced emphatically. It 
would render our orthography far more simple, uni- 
form and certain, to spell all such words as treat, 
receive, believe, people; treet, receev, beleev, peepel, 
&c. : oa, ow, oe, are employed to express the same 
sound or long a., as in coat, grow, doe ; the first is 
the general and therefore ought to be the only form : 
ow, on express the same sound, but the first only 
ought to be retained ; aw, an, express the same 
sound ; one of them should be dropt : ew, ea, ue, 
express the same sound ; the first only should be re- 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 26o 

tained : 00, ou, «, express the same sound ; the first 
only should be retained : ou, properly a French spell- 
ing of the above sound, is most absurdly sprinkled 
over our whole language, and almost incurably fixed 
in it by the towering authority of our lexicographic 
Polyphemus? Why should we write labour instead 
of labor, or rather laber ; and piteous instead ofpiteos, 
or piteus P The truth is, our orthography is com- 
plete motley-graphy — a tissue of the most capricious 
absurdity that was ever put into a dictionary. 

I have remarked in a preceding part that pronun- 
ciation draws orthography after it so long as there is 
no orthographical standard generally acknowledged : 
it is evident, however, that both the pronouncing 
and spelling ought to follow the guidance of etymo- 
logy, else they will proceed in no certain direction-. 
There has been much grave debate among men, nei- 
ther qualified for judging nor legislating whether or- 
thography ought to be brought to pronunciation or 
pronunciation to orthography. It requires, how- 
ever, no profound study of language to perceive that 
both ought to be regulated and fixed by rational ety- 
mology : any other standard of propriety is worse 
than none. It is to be regretted that Mr. Walker 
did not venture (for he was well qualified) to dig a 
little deeper, and lay a firmer foundation of English 
pronunciation and spelling. That he perceived the 
absurdity of setting up custom as the arbiter of Ian- 
guage is evident from the following quotation : " But 
what is this custom to which we must so implicitly 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY, 

submit ? Is it the usage of the multitude ? This 
has never been asserted by the most sanguine abet- 
tors of its authority. Is it the usage of the studious 
in schools and colleges, with those of the learned 
professions, or that of those who, from their eleva- 
ted birth and station, give laws to the refinements 
and elegancies of a court ? To confine propriety to 
the latter, which is too often the case, seems an in- 
jury to the former ; who from their very profession 
appear to have a natural right to a share, at least, in 
the legislation of language, if not to an absolute sove- 
reignty. The polished attendants on a throne are as 
apt to depart from simplicity in language as in dress 
and manners ; and novelty is too often the jus et nor- 
ma loquendi of a court." " But alas! reasoning on 
language, however well-founded, may be all over- 
turned by a single quotation from Horace. This it 
must be confessed, is a short way of ending the con- 
troversy, and by virtue of this argument we may 
become critics in language, without the trouble of 
studying it." 

This is all very sensible, yet he was so much over- 
awed by that kind of criticism which is exempted 
from the trouble of studying language, as to say, "If 
once custom speak out, however absurdly, I sincere- 
ly acquiesce in its sentence." This acquiescence in 
absurdity has unfortunately rendered all his labour a 
baseless fabric ; for the evil requires a deeper remedy 
than lie ventured toapply. After all the talk about 
fixing language, no one surely needs to be convinced 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 26? 

that if it be absurdly fixed more harm than good is 
done. 

The instances of superfluous forms of spelling 
above given are connected with vowels and diph- 
thongs—the great innovators, changers and corrupt- 
ers of language ; constantly tending to render it a 
Proteus or chameleon, subject to no fixed principles 
or certain reasoning : instead of idolizing these mis- 
chievous letters in the manner of ignorant grammatic- 
lings, they ought, as much as possible, to be expel- 
led or suppressed. Among other superfluous spell- 
ings of the same sound the following are of frequent 
occurrence; shi, ci, ti, si; as in fashion, occasion, 
vexation, special, &c. All these forms arose out of 
one ; and one form would be in every respect a great 
advantage over the several that now exist. 

The following principle is of so much importance 
that I shall put it into a peculiar form for the pur- 
pose of exciting attention. 



THE GREAT CANON OF SPELLING AND Pp t O = 
NUNCIATION. 

That mode of spelling and pronouncing should be 
adopted which indicates most effectually the deriva- 
tion and primary meaning of the word. 
The following are a few of the many words that 
might be given to show the importance of the above 
canon : height should be spelt hight, being high and 



268 PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 

the affix t. contracted from ed, eth, &c. : neighbour 
should be pronounced and spelt nighbour, or rather 
?iighber, being nigh prefixed to ber, or nigh with an 
affix : butler should be pronounced and spelt bottler :, 
or rather boiler, being the word bottle (which should 
be botel) with the affix er : loadstar ; loadstone, should 
be leadstar, leadstone ; load, (the leading vein of a 
mine) loadsman ; lead, leadsman : wardmote should 
be wardmeet : hoe should be hew. 

If the above principle were steadily kept in view 
our language might soon be rendered much more 
simple, uniform and intelligible. In all such double 
or many forms as bale, bane, baleful, banefid ; fur- 
ther, farther ; blanch, blench, flinch ; plain, plane ; 
deal, dole ; jail, gaol ; fly, flee, &c. only one form 
and that which has the best recommendation ought 
to be retained in good writing : and in dictionaries 
all those words ought to be grouped into one view 
that are closely related ; as die, dead, (which should 
be died) death ; whole, well, weal, wealth ; probe, 
prove, proof (the last should be spelt profe, or the 
first proov, and pronounced accordingly) ; fear, 
feared, afeared, afraid ; mouth, bite, bait, meat. 

It is evident that with these, and a thousand si- 
milar examples, lexicography, orthography and pro- 
nunciation might do much in diminishing the labij- 
rinthian hugeness and intricacy — in reducing the 
diseased bulkiness of our language and rectifying it 
into simplicity, regularity and (what is of most im- 
portance) intelligibleness. 



PHILOSOPHIC ETYMOLOGY. 269 

I had purposed (when I put forth my Prospectus) 
to treat more fully and minutely of orthography ; but 
as the Introduction of my intended Dictionary will 
embrace the principles of spelling and pronunciation 
I shall not add more on the subject in this work. I 
have done enough to enable the world to judge of 
my philological qualifications for performing such a 
work as will give me room to treat of language in all 
its height and depth, length and breadth. I have 
done enough to convince true enquirers and judges 
how simply and intelligibly language may be un- 
folded, and how important such a development 
must be to true science, intellectual progress, and 
human happiness. 



THE END, 



.,< 



